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Yolanda Saldívar, the gunman responsible for claiming the life of beloved Tejano singer Selena, has reportedly filed for parole. Saldívar fatally shot the singer to death in March 1995 and was consequently sentenced to life in prison in Texas. Now, the New York Post has reported that her parole request is the result of a bounty on her head in prison.
On March 31, 1995, Yolanda Saldívar opened fire on a 23-year-old Selena. The incident took place at the Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas. That day, several witnesses were privy to the sight of a bloody Selena sauntering to the lobby of the hotel, leaving a trail of blood in her wake.
Just before she slipped into unconsciousness and succumbed to her injuries at the hospital, she uttered the following:
"Yolanda Saldívar, room 158."
All we know about Yolanda Saldívar's intent to kill as she gives conflicting accounts of the murder
A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told the New York Post that Yolanda Saldívar's record in prison is squeaky clean, rendering it unlikely for the parole board to decline a hearing this March.
Before her death, Yolanda Saldívar served as Selena's fan club manager. At the time, however, she believed that Saldívar was embezzling funds, over $60,000 to be exact, reportedly prompting the singer to want to fire her. However, a confrontation between the two broke out, culminating in the death of one.
Per the outlet, Selena's family is likely to receive an official notice of the hearing in January, should it be accepted. If it does, it will determine whether or not Saldívar serves the rest of her sentence. In the years following the incident, Saldivar has categorically maintained that she didn't mean to kill the singer and that her death was a mistake.
One of her family members told the outlet that Yolanda Saldívar sees herself as a “political prisoner” who has “paid her debt to society.” During a 2023 interview for the Peacock documentary Selena and Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them, Saldívar reiterated her claims.
She asserted that she meant to take her own life that day, not Selena's, though the public trial proceedings convicted her even before they saw the evidence. Even in 1995, during an ABC interview called 20/20, she doubled down on her stance that the incident was accidental.
She revealed that the two were arguing in the hotel room just before Selena's death, and in a moment of anger, she pulled out the gun and pointed it at her own head in a threatening manner. However, she waved the gun around, pointing it at the door, when it went off by mistake and shot Selena.
However, KFox14 has reported that Yolanda Saldívar's appeal document narrates a different tale. Reportedly, Saldívar claims Selena had removed the contents of a bag onto the bed, all of which were bank files, as she argued with her.
"Then, she "took the gun from my purse and Selena started walking toward the door which was opened. I pulled the hammer back and I shot at her as she was walking towards the door which was open."
In court, she conceded to purchasing the gun in San Antonio just two weeks before Selena's demise.
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At the time of her court hearing, Yolanda Saldívar was sentenced to life in prison. The possibility of parole for her was set to open up after 30 years, which expires this March 2025. Saldívar, now 64, remains in custody at Patrick L. O’Daniel in Gatesville, Texas. In the meantime, it remains to be seen if the parole board accepts her plea.
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