Murder of Selena
| Murder of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez | |
|---|---|
Graffiti left by fans at the motel room door where Selena met with Saldívar before being shot by her | |
| Location | 27°48′05.6″N 97°27′15.2″W / 27.801556°N 97.454222°W Days Inn, Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S. |
| Date | March 31, 1995 11:48 a.m. (UTC−06:00) |
Attack type | Murder by shooting |
| Weapon | Taurus Model 85 .38 Special revolver |
| Victim | Selena Quintanilla-Pérez |
| Perpetrator | Yolanda Saldívar |
| Motive | Money embezzlement and Selena's management demanding fan club's missing financial records |
| Verdict | Guilty |
| Convictions | Murder |
| Trial | Trial of Yolanda Saldívar |
| Sentence | Life imprisonment, parole denied on March 27, 2025 |
On the morning of March 31, 1995, American singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was fatally shot at the Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas. The shooter, Yolanda Saldívar, an American nurse and the president of Selena's fan club, had embezzled thousands of dollars from the singer's earnings.
Saldívar planned the murder over three weeks. Earlier in the day, Selena confronted Saldívar in her hotel room about recovering her financial records. Later that morning, Saldívar fired a hollow-point bullet from a .38 Special revolver, hitting Selena in the shoulder. Selena was rushed to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 1:05 p.m. Following the shooting, Saldívar surrendered to the police after a more than nine-hour standoff.
The murder triggered a global outpouring of grief, with crowds gathering at Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital and outside the Days Inn, and tributes held worldwide. Three days following the murder, Selena was buried at Seaside Memorial Park. On April 12, then-Texas governor and future President George W. Bush declared her birthday Selena Day in Texas. At Saldívar's trial, she was convicted of murdering the singer and given a sentence of 30 years to life imprisonment. She has been denied parole since becoming eligible in 2025.