Yolanda Saldívar

Yolanda Saldívar (Spanish: [ɟʝoˈlanda salˈdiβaɾ]) (born September 19, 1960) is an American former nurse who murdered singer Selena in Corpus Christi, Texas, on March 31, 1995. Saldívar had been the president of Selena's fan club and the manager of her boutiques, but she lost both positions a short time before the murder, when the singer's family discovered that she had been embezzling money from both organizations. In October 1995, Saldívar was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a prison term of 30 years to life. In 2025, she became eligible for parole. Saldívar's petition for parole was denied on March 27, 2025; the next parole review is set for March 2030.^[1]

Yolanda Saldívar was born on September 19, 1960, in San Antonio, Texas. She was the youngest of seven children born to Frank and Juanita Saldívar. While growing up, she was teased and occasionally bullied at school because of her weight. She rarely made any friends and isolated herself from social activities. Her father was a head waiter at Jacala, a Mexican restaurant in the West End. She attended three different elementary schools in the Edgewood School district. Saldívar first attended Kennedy High School, then transferred to Holmes, followed by Jay High School, before graduating in 1979 from McCollom High School. While at McCollum, Saldívar belonged to the Junior ROTC. Few classmates recall Saldívar, who was a classmate of Ram Herrera, who graduated in 1978, and Emilio Navaira, who graduated in 1980. Saldívar was accepted at the University of Texas in 1985, then transferred to Palo Alto College. She studied to be a registered nurse, and on December 10, 1990, received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Texas A&M International University. At this time, she became obsessed with losing weight. She also began work as a graduate nurse at Medical Center Hospital. In March 1991, she received her license as a registered nurse from the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners and earned $60,000 a year. Saldívar, who married, had to work part time after adopting three children, one of them her niece. Saldívar's employer, Dr. Faustino Gomez, a dermatologist, sued her for $9,200 that he said she stole from him starting in 1983. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court. Within two months, Saldívar was back in court again when the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation obtained a Travis county court judgement in Austin against her for failing to repay a student loan of $7,361. At that time, Saldívar had switched jobs and was working as a nurse at St. Luke's Lutheran Hospital.

Saldívar, a former nurse, was a fan of country music. After attending one of Selena's concerts, she began repeatedly calling Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla, about starting a fan club in San Antonio. Quintanilla eventually gave in to Saldívar's requests and she immediately became the club's president. Saldívar was eventually promoted as manager of Selena's clothing boutiques, Selena Etc. By 1993, the fan club had reached 1,500 members in less than four years, and eventually grew to over 5,000. It became one of the largest fan clubs in the San Antonio area.^[1]