Yolanda Saldívar Seeks Parole Decades After Tragic Event Involving Selena

Selena’s killer is seeking parole.

Yolanda Saldíva is currently in prison for the murder of the famous American Tejano singer Selena in 1995. Saldíva used to work for Selena and was a fan who became obsessed. She fatally shot Selena in a hotel room in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Saldíva is serving her sentence at the Patrick L. O’Daniel unit in Gainsville, under the jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Speculations have surfaced that she may be in danger due to her crime of killing Selena, with rumors suggesting there is a price on her head.

Reports from The New York Post mention that Saldíva is aiming to be released on parole in 2025. She has taken the necessary steps to request a parole hearing, scheduled for March, and as of now, there are no major obstacles on her record that could impede the process.

Saldívar, 64, claims that she shot the Grammy Award winner by accident. The “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” singer had accused Saldívar — who was the president of the then 23-year-old’s fan club — of embezzling more than $60,000 from her. Selena was shot to death in the hotel room of a Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas after confronting Saldívar.

After being shot, Selena ran to the lobby and collapsed. Her last words were reportedly, “Yolanda … 158,” per PEOPLE. A film about the tragedy starring Jennifer Lopez was released in 1997.

The family of Selena will reportedly receive a notice about the parole hearing in January.

Saldívar is reportedly a target in prison for murdering the beloved singer.

A former inmate at the Patrick L. O’Daniel unit, Marisol Lopez, claims that “everyone” knows who Saldívar is, and they all want “a piece.” Lopez also maintains that the prison guards separate Saldívar from the general population in the prison for her safety.

“Everyone knows who Yolanda Saldívar is,” said Lopez. “There’s a bounty on her head. Like, everyone wants a piece of her. The guards keep her away from everyone else because she’s hated so much. If she were out, someone would try to take her down.”

Another ex-inmate, Yesenia Dominguez, claimed that Saldívar was often a topic of discussion in the prison yard for the inmates.

“Everyone was always like, ‘Let me have five minutes with that b—tch,’” said Dominguez. “Everyone wanted to get justice for Selena. There’s a target on her back.”

Selena began performing with her siblings in their band, Selena y Los Dinos, as a child. In 1993, she won a Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Album for “Selena Live!” at the 36th Annual Grammy Awards in New York City.

The singer’s Instagram fan account noted the occasion with a remembrance post last March.

The post was captioned, “It was this year, 30 years ago, Selena traveled to New York attending the 36th Annual Grammys Awards and winning in the category for ‘Mexican/American Album of the Year’ for “Selena: Live! Relive this memorable concert on all her official digital platforms. #SelenaLive1993 #GrammyWinner #SelenaYLosDinos.”

Selena received a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 3, 2017, in Hollywood, CA.

In attendance were members of her band including her sister, Suzette Quintanilla, her brother, A.B. Quintanilla III, and Selena’s widower and former bandmate, Chris Perez.

The family celebrates Selena with annual musical tributes celebrating the singer. Her father, Abraham Quintanilla, says that his daughter continues to bring in new fans years after her untimely passing.

“Over the years, the new generations have discovered her and have fallen in love with her,” he said. “Selena’s life was cut short, but her fans have carried her throughout the years and her legacy is being passed on from generation to generation. That in itself is incredible.”

Quintanilla said during an interview with Univision’s Primer Impacto in 2018 that he receives letters from inmates wanting to kill Saldívar for murdering the “Queen of Tejano Music.”

“To this day, we still receive letters from women who are in the same prison where they say they are waiting for her,” he said. “They say that they are going to kill her. There are bad women in there. Women who have murdered other people in the past. That is why they are in there. They have nothing to lose.”