According to documents filed within the Texas penal system, the infamous admirer who managed to infiltrate the inner sanctum of pop icon Selena and subsequently executed the Tejano singer in 1995, at the dawn of her meteoric rise to global fame, has now submitted a plea for parole in Texas. Yolanda Saldívar, now aged 64, held the prestigious position of president of Selena's fan club and oversaw the operations of her boutique line, Selena, Inc., when she fatally shot her on March 31, 1995. The tragic event unfolded in a Corpus Christi, Texas, Days Inn hotel room, amidst a confrontation that erupted after Selena Quintanilla-Perez's family discovered Saldívar's embezzlement of funds.
Selena, seeking the financial records Saldívar refused to disclose, attempted to flee when Saldívar pointed a .38 Taurus Model 85 revolver at her. However, Saldívar fired a shot, striking Selena in the back. Saldívar has steadfastly maintained that the shooting was an unintended accident and that her intention on that fateful day was to turn the gun on herself. Instead, Selena collapsed in the hotel lobby and later succumbed to excessive blood loss at a local hospital, at the tender age of 23. Following her tragic demise, Selena's fame soared, cementing her legacy as the young "Queen of Tejano Music."
A jury rejected Saldívar's defense and convicted her of murder on October 23, 1995. Days subsequent to the verdict, she was sentenced to life imprisonment, with the possibility of parole after 30 years. This pivotal date looms just under three months away, on March 25, and according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice online records, Saldívar is currently navigating the Parole Review Process.
In Texas, the six-month parole journey entails an inmate interview and the submission of letters of support and protest. An Institutional Parole Officer compiles this material and submits a comprehensive case summary to the Board voting panel, who, in Saldívar's case, will deliberate on her parole at the end of March, as per the Texas DCJ. She is presently incarcerated at the Patrick L. O'Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas.
Drawing from conversations with inmates at the O'Daniel facility, the New York Post reports that Saldívar faces constant harassment and receives death threats from fellow detainees over her crimes. Saldívar's sister conveyed to the tabloid that, after spending decades behind bars, it feels as though she has been reduced to the status of a "political prisoner."
In a prison interview conducted for the Peacock documentary, Selena and Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them, Saldívar claimed that she "was convicted by public opinion even before my trial commenced."
