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Selena’s killer, Yolanda Saldívar, eligible for parole in 2025

Saldívar fatally shot the Tejano superstar in 1995 and was sentenced to life in prison

Senior Culture Editor

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Selena Quintanilla posthumously honored with star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles, Nov 3, 2017 (David Buchan/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Selena Quintanilla posthumously honored with star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles, Nov 3, 2017 (David Buchan/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)

Yolanda Saldívar, the woman who was sentenced to life in prison in 1995 for fatally shooting Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla, is eligible for her first parole hearing on March 30, 2025. A former nurse, president of Selena's fan club and manager of the singer's clothing boutiques, Saldívar has been detained at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas for the past 30 years.

Now 63-years old, Saldívar speaks about her crime, and the time she spent with Selena, in a three-part docuseries on Oxygen True Crime called "Selena & Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them," which airs on February 17. 

“I knew her secrets,” Saldivar says in the trailer, which can be seen below. “And I think the people deserved to know the truth.”

According to Tejano Nation, sourcing information from an article written by newly shuttered website The Messenger in 2023, a spokesperson at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), says Saldívar has no blemishes on her record that will keep the board from holding a hearing to determine whether to release her. The outlet furthers that Saldívar's family is aware that she has "a target on her back," and that Selena’s fans have expressed their outrage and disbelief at the possibility of her release.

 

By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Senior Culture Editor, where she helps further coverage of TV, film, music, books and culture trends from a unique and thoughtful angle. Her work has also appeared in Vulture, Vanity Fair, Vice and many other outlets that don't start with the letter V. She is the author of one sad book called "Something Is Always Happening Somewhere." Follow her on Bluesky: @WolfieVibes

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