Tragic Details About Selena's Murder

better known today by just her first name selena quintanilla perez is the undisputed queen of tejano music tragically she was murdered on march 31 1995 by her former fan club president and friend yolanda saldivar here are the details leading up to and following the murder it was 1991 when yolanda saldivar first saw celina quintinia perform in person as written by journalist maria celeste araras in her book selena's secret the revealing story behind her tragic death apparently saldivar who is a 30 year old registered nurse wasn't even a fan when she attended that first concert in san antonio a country music fan the nurse would only attend the tejano stars show because of an invite from her niece but once saldivar witnessed selena's onstage magic she was hooked when the memorable show ended saldivar was excited to buy some merchandise to commemorate the night at the time though there were no official products on sale leading the new fan to come up with the idea of creating an official fan club abraham quintanilla selena's father says he received 15 calls from saldivar while the nurse maintains she only called three times the end result was that salty var was given permission to found and become president of the selena fan club in june 1991 with her main contact being suzet quintinia selena's older sister yolanda saldivar would not actually meet selena until six months later in december under yolanda saldivar's leadership the selena fan club expanded quickly growing to thousands of members in just a few years according to biography assal divar worked and proved her usefulness the president of the selena fan club wormed her way further into selena and the quintinia's family's lives as told by texas monthly she would constantly be at selena's side when the singer was in or near san antonio acting as quote selena's eyes and ears impressed by the fan club president's dedication the quintanillas eventually would entrust saldivar with more responsibilities over the next few years the former nurse's life came to completely revolve around selena from having control over the star's business checking accounts to being given a key to selena and her husband's home saldivar was fully a part of the tejano's superstar's inner circle yolanda saldivar became someone selena trusted someone she confided in and took advice from as written by d magazine selena talked warmly of her friend saying yolanda was the one who encouraged me to go to college with a lifelong interest in fashion and beauty it was only a matter of time until selena had a go at creating her own clothing line according to bustle the music icon was at the peak of her career having just won her first grammy award the year before for best mexican-american album when she opened two selena etc boutiques in corpus christi and san antonio in 1994 the stores were must-go spots for all selena fans selling selena memorabilia in clothes some of which were designed by selena herself while also offering salon services and the appointed manager trusted to handle these boutiques you guessed it yolanda saldivar it was around the time of saldivar's promotion that her behavior started to become troubling as written in selena's secret boutique employees claimed that saldivar was possessive over selena and quote constantly looking for ways to keep her away from others the washington post reported on how martin gomez the fashion designer for selena's boutique clothing line who worked alongside saldivar for eight months quit his role solely because he couldn't stand working with a vindictive manager any longer even at home saldivar's obsession with selena was a problem with the roommate moving out after two weeks due to being quote spooked by the shrine saltivar had turned the apartment into according to texas monthly despite repeated instances of saltyvar's troubling attitude the young and trusting selena had quote loyally defended zaldivar when anyone criticized her according to the washington post that is until the singer's father was made aware of some suspicious behavior in january 1995 abraham quintinia was informed of an issue with the fan club members were complaining that they'd never received any of the merchandise they were promised despite sending in their 22 as reported by texas monthly before telling selena abraham started doing some quiet digging as d magazine writes several signs that saldivar was embezzling money from the fan club and boutiques were uncovered from unpaid bills to forge checks that saldivar had written to herself and her family on top of all that it turned out that saldivar had a history of similar behavior she was once accused of embezzling funds from a previous employer and had defaulted on a student loan the woman who had obsessively dedicated her life to selena was on her way to being kicked right out of it on march 9th 1995 selena her father abraham and her sister suzette confronted saldivar about her suspicious accounting given only unsatisfactory excuses the quintanillas concluded that they could no longer trust salty var and relieved her of her duties when she tried to show up to work the next day abraham kicked her out the whole ordeal apparently pushed her to extreme measures the very next day march 11th saltivar purchased a weapon and on the 13th after a background check the newly fired manager was in possession of a 38 caliber pistol according to biography despite her firing sullivar was able to obtain some of selena's important financial records and over the next few weeks would effectively use them as leverage to stall her termination on march 15th selena went with her husband chris perez to meet up with saldivar and collect the missing records the meeting was bizarre with sultivar returning only some of the documents and also showing off her new gun to selena which she claimed was for protection unruffled the tejano star simply told her to return it while suggesting that saldivar could perhaps manage her upcoming stores in mexico the meeting seemed to have calmed salty var some because the gun was brought back to the store soon after despite the situation having been somewhat de-escalated salty var went back to the gun store and repurchased the 38 caliber weapon on march 26 according to upi still in possession of important financial documents saldivar asked for selena to come alone to her room at the days inn to get the documents on the night of march 30th smartly selena came with her husband who waited outside while the two women talked in room 158 handing the records over saldivar mentioned some shocking news to selena yolanda had told selena that on her last trip to mexico that she had been raped she then asked to be taken to the hospital because of excessive bleeding at the same time the singer noticed that there were still documents missing another trip to the days inn was arranged for the next morning but this time selena would go alone on the morning of march 31 1995 the queen of tejano music met up with saldivar again tension between the two seemed to start at the hospital where selena called saldivar out for lying about how much she was bleeding and showed signs of distrust ultimately the hospital was unable to perform the exam needed to determine whether saltivar had been assaulted and the two women returned back to room 158 upon returning from the hospital selena and saldivar begin heatedly exchanging words once again selena asked for her documents back apparently trying to officially end their professional relationship according to texas monthly in response salty bar demanded that selena return a ring she was once gifted by her employees but as the singer was pulling off the ring the other woman was pulling out her gun selena had her back to saldivar when she was shot at 11 48 am as reported by yahoo a maid heard saltivar scream as selena frantically ran out of the room bleeding as described by d magazine the bullet hit a major artery went through her right lung and exited the singer's chest stumbling into the lobby selena collapsed on the floor and begged the workers to lock the door quote because she'll shoot me again asked who shot her selena uttered her last words before passing out the ring still in her hand yolanda room 158 she was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance but the damage from the bullet had caused so much blood loss that she was clinically brain dead by the time she arrived despite heroic efforts to save selena the 23 year old queen of tejano music was tragically pronounced dead at 105 pm while selena was dying at the hospital saltivar was still at the days inn parking lot as reported by the washington post right after the shooting a hysterical salty var sat in her red pickup truck with her gun to her head threatening to kill herself the former fan club president engaged in a nine and a half hour standoff with the police with lead negotiator larry rucker young quote on the phone with her for seven and a half hours as he told a e real crime amid cries of wanting to take her own life and claims that selena's father was responsible for the shooting saldivar's main request to the negotiator was quote to hear what was going on with selena her condition sensing her volatile state young decided against telling salty var that selena had died and instead focused on getting her to put the gun away and surrender to the police she wanted someone to hear her story that they are best friends that she loves selena she admires selena she would do anything for her hours later yolanda saldivar was finally arrested the death of the young selena shocked the nation with thousands of fans in countless cities holding candlelight vigils that very night her music was played all over spanish language radio with fans calling in to cry and express their grief over the loss of the tejano star and cultural icon as told by texas monthly dances at tejano venues were called off in cities across texas on monday april 3rd a public viewing was held with thousands of fans lining up since the early morning to pay their respects and see selena's closed casket surrounded by 5 000 of her favorite white roses soon though rumors started up suggesting that selena was not actually in the casket and that the whole thing was actually a publicity stunt to shut down any doubts the quintinis opened her casket about an hour before visitation ended that evening with it open it was clear that it was selena's body as texas monthly wrote her hands folded across her chest clutched a single red rose by 10 when the doors finally closed almost 60 000 people had paid their respects in october 1995 after just two hours of deliberation by the jury yolanda saldivar was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to a maximum of life in prison with no opportunity for parole until march 2025 at the earliest she has since spent her days in gatesville texas at a maximum security women's prison called mountain view unit despite her conviction saldivar had always insisted that the entire shooting was an accident in her version of events it was saldivar who was trying to end the professional relationship with selena and the tejano star begged her not to quit zaldivar claims that she was holding the gun to her own head threatening to kill herself if selena didn't leave when she accidentally fired the gun at selena while she was gesturing toward the door even after more than two decades in prison saldivar has stuck by this story even requesting a new trial and being dismissed as recently as in 2019 i hold in my hand here 50 pages of case summary the list of times since her conviction that something has been filed on her behalf selena the film hit theaters in 1997 two years after the singer's death while it was produced by selena's family themselves there are many who felt that it was too rushed this included salma hayek who was offered the title role shortly after the singer's death but turned it down because she felt it was too early according to oprah daley she said it was a little bit distasteful in the documentary the making of selena 10 years later though the makers of the movie including the quintinia family clarified that the film was meant to shut down falsities before they had a chance to take hold actor edward james almost explained that in the 15 months between selena's death and the filming of the movie there were already quote eight books three documentaries and two major motion pictures in production and they were doing it all without the permission of the family the press was also putting out quote hurtful gossip about selena and the family knew that being quick to make the movie would mean being quick to end the negativity as selena's brother put it what we didn't want to happen was to have a misrepresentation of a great artist like selena and a family member and a family and a culture and so it kind of forced the family to have to make a hard decision which was making the movie while selena's rise to super stardom was tragically cut short decades after her death she is still being recognized for her major contributions as an artist she has continued to sell millions of albums with her posthumous crossover album dreaming of you still topping the list of best-selling latin albums in the united states in a more remaining in the top five according to billboard in 2017 selena was given her own star on the hollywood walk of fame and at the 2021 grammys she was honored with a lifetime achievement award her influence on music and culture can be seen in the careers of modern stars like jennifer lopez or on major murals and art pieces with movies tv shows and fashion and beauty collaborations sharing her legacy the musical icon's impact continues to transcend generations and cultures even today

Channel: Grunge

Views: 445,286

Keywords: grunge, selena, music, musician, queen of tejano music

Id: TfNX4tnZyns

Length: 13min 55sec (835 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 25 2021