The lady convicted of killing Tejano music legend Selena Quintanilla-Pérez has been denied parole and can proceed serving a life sentence for fatally taking pictures the rising younger singer at a Texas motel in 1995, the state’s parole board introduced Thursday.
Yolanda Saldívar, 64, was up for parole for the primary time for the reason that killing of the singer, recognized to followers as merely Selena.
One of the primary Mexican American artists to interrupt into the mainstream music scene, Selena shattered boundaries for girls in Latin music. She was 23 years outdated and on the verge of crossing over into English-language pop superstardom when she was killed.
The singer’s household and Chris Pérez, her widower, expressed gratitude to the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles.
“While nothing can bring Selena back, this decision reaffirms that justice continues to stand for the beautiful life that was taken from us and from millions of fans around the world far too soon,” they stated in a press release posted on social media.
In explaining the choice to disclaim parole, the board stated in a press release that the panel discovered that Saldívar continues to pose a menace to public security. It additionally stated the character of the crime indicated “a conscious disregard for the lives, safety, or property of others.”
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Saldívar, who’s serving her sentence in a Gatesville jail, can be eligible to be reviewed once more for parole in 2030.
Saldívar based Selena’s fan membership and was the supervisor of the singer’s clothes boutiques, Selena Etc., till she was fired in early March 1995 after cash was found lacking.
Selena, a Corpus Christi native, was shot within the again with a .38-caliber revolver at a Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi on March 31, 1995. She was in a position to run to the motel foyer, the place she collapsed, and she or he was pronounced lifeless at a hospital an hour later.
Motel staff testified that Selena named “Yolanda” in “room 158” as her attacker.
“I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t mean to kill anybody,” a sobbing Saldívar stated throughout a nine-hour standoff with police. She informed officers she had purchased the .38-caliber revolver to kill herself.
More than 50,000 folks lined as much as view Selena’s physique the day earlier than she was laid to relaxation in Seaside Memorial Park on April 3, 1995, simply 13 days earlier than her twenty fourth birthday.
Saldívar’s trial was moved to Houston due to the publicity surrounding the case. Saldívar testified that she had supposed to kill herself throughout the confrontation with Selena however the gun misfired.
On Oct. 23, 1995, a jury convicted Saldívar of first-degree homicide. She was sentenced to life in jail with the opportunity of parole after 30 years.
While in jail, Saldívar, a former nurse, obtained her paralegal and affiliate diploma in felony justice. She has filed a number of civil rights complaints alleging mistreatment by the state’s jail system, in accordance with court docket information, and she or he additionally helped different inmates file petitions.
In court docket paperwork from 2016, Saldívar stated she was being held in protecting custody — that means she was segregated from different inmates — as a result of jail officers had been involved for her security because of the “high profile” nature of her case. She filed a number of appeals of her conviction, however all had been rejected.
Known as “the Queen of Tejano,” Selena rose to stardom and received a Grammy throughout a Tejano music growth within the early Nineties. Her hits included Bidi Bidi Bom Bom, Como la Flor, Amor Prohibido, No Me Queda Mas and Tu Solo Tu.
She opened the floodgates for a brand new technology of up to date artists of Latin descent who would go on to take pleasure in big recognition with mainstream American audiences. She usually sang in Spanish and spoke in English, reflecting a cross-cultural id that resonated with listeners.
Dreaming of You, her English-language crossover album launched a number of months after her dying, topped the Billboard 200 and featured the hits I Could Fall in Love and Dreaming of You.
Jennifer Lopez performed the singer within the 1997 biopic Selena.
The Grammys awarded Selena a posthumous lifetime achievement award in 2021.
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