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Notorious Lives

Mark David Chapman

John E. du Pont

Harry Kendall Thaw

Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives

Yolanda Saldívar

by Tracie L. Keesee

Latina murderer

Major offense: Murder of Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez

Active: March 30, 1995

Locale: Corpus Cristi, Texas

Sentence: Life in prison

Early Life

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Yolanda Saldívar (sahl-DEE-vahr) was the youngest of seven children born to retired restaurateur Frank Saldívar. Considered a good student, Saldívar began her career in the medical profession as a licensed dental assistant. After several years in this occupation in Texas, Yolanda attended night school to complete her degree in nursing.

Criminal Career

Saldívar became interested in Selena’s music and in 1991 asked if she could organize a fan club. She was hired as the president of the Selena Fan Club and put in control of the club’s finances and membership. Yolanda and Selena became close friends and the fan club became a moneymaking avenue for the singer. In 1994, Selena branched out from the music business and bought several salon boutiques; she assigned management of these businesses to Saldívar.

In February, 1995, trouble started with the Selena Fan Club. People complained that they had not received the fan packets for which they had paid. The Quintanilla family confronted Saldívar. Money also started to turn up missing from one of Selena’s bank accounts. On March 12, 1995, Selena fired Saldívar. Although she was fired, Saldívar continued to work because there were papers missing and the business was preparing to file taxes. On March 30, Selena went to where Saldívar was staying in Corpus Cristi, at a Days Inn motel, in order to get some missing paperwork. After this meeting, Selena discovered that still more papers were missing.

Early the next morning, Selena went back to the Days Inn motel to meet with Saldívar again. Saldívar told Selena that she had been raped in Monterey, Mexico, and needed to go to the hospital; Selena took her. After about an hour, Selena and Saldívar returned to the motel and argued. At 11:48 a.m., Saldívar took out a gun and fired at Selena. The bullet struck her in her right shoulder, severing a major artery. Selena ran toward the lobby to get help. According to the motel’s front desk clerk, Shawna Vela, Selena screamed that she needed help because she had been shot. Vela said she and other employees asked Selena who had shot her, and Selena answered, “Saldívar—158.” She collapsed on the floor as Vela called 911. Selena died a short time later at a hospital. After a nine-and-a-half-hour standoff with police, Saldívar was taken into custody for the murder of Selena.

Legal Action and Outcome

Salivdar’s defense in the death of Selena was that it was an accident. Saldívar claimed that she had been threatened and assaulted by Abraham Quintanilla, Jr., Selena’s father, which drove her to the final confrontation with Selena. On October 23, 1995, following nine days of testimony and only two hours and twenty minutes of deliberation, Saldívar was found guilty of murder. On October 26, 1995, she was sentenced to life in prison. Saldívar began serving her sentence in Gatesville Prison in Texas; she would be eligible for parole in 2036.

Impact

Selena’s death was not a leading story in the U.S. mainstream media until Yolanda Saldívar’s standoff with police was broadcast live on national television. Although a very well known singer in Mexico, Selena was new to the American market, as she had not made an English-language album yet (she was working on one at the time of her death). Selena’s death and the subsequent conviction of Saldívar was followed closely by the Latino community in the United States. After her album was released posthumously, it went double platinum by the end of 1995, making her the first Tejano artist to break through to the mainstream pop music market. A film depicting Selena’s life, starring Jennifer Lopez and titled Selena (1997), memorialized the singer for her adoring fans.

Further Reading

1 

Arraras, Maria Celeste. Selena’s Secret: The Revealing Story Behind Her Tragic Death. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. Examines new details about the life and death of the Tejano superstar and includes never-before-released information on convicted murderer Saldívar.

2 

Marvis, Barbara. Selena. Hockessin, Del.: Mitchell Lane, 2003. A book for young adults that covers the life and career of Selena.

3 

Richmond, Clint. Selena: The Phenomenal Life and Tragic Death of a Tejano Music Queen. New York: Pocket Books, 1996. Examines every aspect of Selena’s life and rise to fame. The first half of the book is in English and the rest is in Spanish. It has eight pages of photographs in the center of the book.

Citation Types

MLA 9th
Keesee, Tracie L. "Yolanda Saldívar." Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives, edited by Carl L. Bankston III, Salem Press, 2007. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLN_1521.
APA 7th
Keesee, T. L. (2007). Yolanda Saldívar. In C. L. Bankston III (Ed.), Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Keesee, Tracie L. "Yolanda Saldívar." Edited by Carl L. Bankston III. Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2007. Accessed March 21, 2026. online.salempress.com.