The Death of an Icon: The Murder of Selena

I decided to do another infamous case, this of course is the murder of the singer, Selena. I watched an episode of The Crimes That Changed Us on ID. I was born in 1995, so I of course didn’t hear about Selena’s death until years later. I also now live in San Antonio, Texas, just a few hours from Corpus Christi where the crime happened. Selena’s music and her legacy is still very alive and well today.

Background

Selena

Selena was born on April 16, 1971. Selena wanted to be a singer and performer almost right away, after seeing her dad, Abraham, perform in his band. Abraham also realized Selena’s gift, and made a band with all his kids. Selena, being the lead singer of course.

Selena became popular in 1987, after she won a Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year. She also won a Grammy at the age of 22.

Selena was an icon for the Hispanic community, and she was described as being down to earth and kind to all her fans. She was also so kind and trusting, that it’s what got her killed.

Yolanda Saldivar

Yolanda started out as a huge fan of Selena’s. She eventually became the president of Selena’s fan club in 1991, and eventually was in Selena’s “inner circle.”

Selena with Yolanda

Yolanda was in charge of membership benefits and would collect the money that fans bought that was promoting anything with Selena on it, such as t-shirts and schedules for Selena’s concerts.

Selena became very interested in fashion, and had a great fashion sense of her own. Yolanda eventually helped Selena when she opened up her boutiques. Yolanda was described as being two faced, nice when Selena was around, but rude to the other employees.

Abraham started to suspect that Yolanda was stealing, after he had gotten several phone calls from people saying that they never got their money back after purchasing items. There were also checks that Yolanda had signed that were missing. A few weeks before Selena’s death, Abraham had told Selena to fire Yolanda. It turns out Yolanda had stolen $60,000 from all of their businesses.

The Meeting

On March 9, 1995, Yolanda met with Selena. Abraham had given Selena evidence of Yolanda’s crimes, and Yolanda never denied or explained what happened or why she would have stolen the money.

Yolanda was never fired that day, but Selena said she was going to work on firing Yolanda. Yolanda must have been boiling and was planning on murdering Selena.

The Murder

On March 31, 1995, Selena was supposed to meet Yolanda at her hotel room. Selena had gotten a call about something that Yolanda had stolen from her, so Selena told another employee she was going to confront her.

Selena left to go to the Days Inn around 7:30am. Yolanda let her inside, and according to witnesses, their was arguing in the hotel room and they heard a gunshot, after Selena tried to run out of the room. Selena was shot in the lower shoulder, where it hit an artery. Selena was running and saying “help, I’ve been shot,” with Yolanda running after her calling her a “bitch.”

Around 11:49am, Selena collapsed after telling a maintenance working that “they’ll shoot her again.” Many hotel employees were helping her, and saw Yolanda run away. Selena was able to tell the employees who shot her and what room number Yolanda was in. She told them “Yolanda… 158.”

It took the ambulance 1 minute and 55 seconds to arrive at the scene and Selena was already losing consciousness. Selena was pronounced brain dead, even on the way to the hospital. The doctors were able to get a faint heartbeat and try to revive her. However, she was pronounced dead at 1:05pm from blood loss and cardiac arrest. Selena was 23 years old when she died.

Selena’s autopsy was performed three hours after her death. The bullet had entered Selena’s back, near her shoulder blade and severed her artery. The doctors said that if the bullet was one millimeter higher or lower, Selena might have survived.

Yolanda vs. the police

Yolanda had run to her car, a 1994 GMC pickup truck. She refused to come out and told the police she was going to kill herself.

A team of hostage negotiators were brought in and told Yolanda to exit her vehicle. She changed her story multiple times and said she she didn’t mean to kill Selena, and that the gun went off by accident.

By this point, the news had gotten out that Selena had been shot. There were many people lined up outside of the motel wanting to know what happened. Yolanda finally surrounded after nine years, and Selena’s fans learned her fate.

Trial and Conviction

Yolanda was taken to the Corpus Christi police station right away and was interviewed. There was a very large debate before Yolanda’s trial began about whether or not she would even be safe if she was released on bail. Selena’s fans and even inmates were angry at Yolanda, and some even threatening.

Yolanda pleaded not guilty. Yolanda stuck with her story that she killed Selena after the gun accidentally went off.

On October 23, Yolanda was found guilty after 2 1/2 hours of the jury deliberation. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.

She is eligible for parole in 2025. However, she has been and is still is described as evasive and has never told the truth about what happened that day. It’s believed that Yolanda might be mentally ill, as well.

Yolanda now

Other

April 16 is ‘Selena Day’ in Texas.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’ve heard a little of Selena’s music, and I’ve heard about her case many times, but I was not even 1 when she died, so it didn’t impact me as much as other people. Everything I have seen, listened to, or watched described Selena as a beautiful person and she was too trusting. She trusted someone close to her with her business ventures and with her life. Someone that she thought was her friend.

I think Yolanda was jealous of Selena, and when she found out that she was going to lose her “friend and fame” she snapped. I personally did think she might have some kind of mental illness as well, but it seems that she can be a very good actress so she might just be acting.

I wonder if Yolanda will actually be paroled in a few years- 5 years to be exact, which is a little scary to think about. I personally feel like she won’t because she has never confessed about what really happened that day, and I don’t think she has any remorse.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Selena

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a34860123/selena-death-murder-true-story/

https://www.newsweek.com/selena-was-killed-25-years-ago-heres-look-her-brief-life-murder-1495251