Murder of Selena

On the morning of March 31, 1995, American singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was fatally shot at the Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi, Texas. The shooter, Yolanda Saldívar, was an American nurse who had founded and served as president of Selena's fan club and later became manager of Selena's Selena Etc. boutiques. Saldívar had been entrusted with financial responsibilities for the fan club and boutiques, including check-writing authority and access to bank accounts.

By early 1995, Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., discovered that Saldívar had embezzled more than $60,000 from the fan club and boutiques using forged checks, including checks signed under a fabricated identity. On March 9, 1995, Abraham confronted Saldívar with the evidence during a meeting at Q-Productions; Saldívar did not deny the accusations. She was subsequently banned from contacting Selena directly, and on March 10 Selena removed her from the boutique's bank account and replaced her as fan club president. Selena, however, wanted to retain Saldívar's assistance with Mexico business dealings and needed the missing financial records for tax purposes, so her termination remained pending.

According to Abraham Quintanilla, there were four occasions between mid-March and March 31, 1995, on which he believed Saldívar had planned or attempted to kill Selena, beginning after Saldívar purchased a .38 Special revolver and hollow-point bullets on March 11. On March 30, Saldívar, who had returned from a trip to Monterrey, Mexico, told Selena she had been raped there and asked Selena to come to her motel room. On the morning of March 31, Selena went to the motel to collect stolen financial records and accompanied Saldívar to a hospital regarding the alleged assault. Afterward, at the motel room, Selena and Saldívar argued over the return of financial documents. As Selena attempted to leave the room, Saldívar shot her once with the revolver, striking her in the upper right back near the shoulder blade; the bullet severed her right subclavian artery.

Selena ran toward the motel lobby, identified Saldívar as her shooter, and gave the room number before losing consciousness. She was transported to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital, where despite extensive resuscitation efforts, she was pronounced dead at 1:05 p.m. from blood loss and cardiac arrest. Saldívar fled to her truck in the parking lot, was blocked in by police, and engaged in a standoff of more than nine hours, during which she at times pointed the revolver at her own head, before surrendering to police.

The killing produced an extensive public reaction across Texas and among Latino communities nationally, with mourners gathering at the hospital and motel, and tributes reported internationally. Selena was buried three days later at Seaside Memorial Park in Corpus Christi. On April 12, 1995, then-Texas Governor George W. Bush declared Selena's birthday "Selena Day" in Texas. Saldívar was tried and convicted of murdering Selena and was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison; she has been denied parole since becoming eligible in 2025.