Behind the Death of Beloved Superstar Selena

March 31 is a dark day in the world of Selena fans. On this date in 1995, the beloved singer was shot and killed by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club and manager of the singer’s Texas-based boutique and beauty salon, Selena Etc.

Selena Quintanilla Pérez was at the height of her career when her life was tragically cut short at the age of 23. Yet her voice continues to live on through cherished songs like “Como La Flor,” “Dreaming of You,” “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” and many more.

What Happened at the Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas

In the weeks leading up to Selena’s death, several of the staff at Selena’s boutiques had complained about Saldívar’s unpleasant behavior, with members of the singer’s team also commenting on Saldívar’s behavior and mismanagement. In January 1995, Selena’s father and manager, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. started receiving calls from fans who had paid for fan club memberships but hadn’t yet received their membership benefits.

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Quintanilla Jr. soon found out that Saldívar had been embezzling money of up to $30,000 and confronted her about it in a meeting on March 9, threatening to tell local authorities if Saldívar could not prove what happened to the money. Despite her father’s efforts to cut off contact between the singer and Saldívar, Selena insisted they stay in touch since Saldívar was in charge of her financial documents.

Days before the murder, Saldívar had claimed that she was sexually assaulted in Mexico. On the morning of March 31, Selena met with Saldívar at a Days Inn in Corpus Christi when she took Saldívar to a medical clinic to be examined. When they returned to the motel at room 158, Selena took matters into her own hands and confronted Saldívar about the financial records, prompting Saldívar to pull a gun from her purse and shoot the singer in the right shoulder as she attempted to run away.

According to court testimony by Norma Martinez, a housekeeper at the Days Inn who witnessed the aftermath of the attack, she claimed to have heard a sound resembling a “car backfiring.” She saw a woman in a green jumpsuit stumble out of room 158, not realizing at the moment that it was Selena. She noted that she heard Selena screaming for help and was followed out of the room by Saldívar. Martinez also alleged that she heard Saldívar call Selena a “bitch.” “Selena went into the lobby. She was calling for help,” Martinez continued.

The housekeeper also saw a police officer attempt to help the singer and saw him follow Saldívar when she got into her truck. “The policeman found her. He went to the truck, but Yolanda had the gun pointed to her head. She was [screaming]…that she didn’t do nothing,” she said.

Desk Clerk Testimony

Shawna Vela, the desk clerk at the Days Inn at the time of the shooting, was checking out a guest at the time when Selena came running in. “I was checking out the guest and a lady came running into the entrance and was asking for help,” Vela stated in her testimony. “She was saying, ‘Help me, please help me.’ I asked her, ‘Help you do what’? [She said], ‘Help, me, please – I have been shot!’ I said, ‘You’ve been shot?’ and she said, ‘Yes.’ When she said I have been shot, she turned and put her arms down and that is when I saw the blood.”

As Vela called 911, Selena went into a nearby room and laid down. When Vela went into the room to check on her, Selena confirmed that Saldívar was the one who shot her. “I knelt down to her and asked who shot her,” Vela said. “She said, ‘Yolanda , Room 158.’ I went to the box and got all the information about #158.” The singer then asked Vela to lock the door out of fear that Saldívar would find her and shoot her again. Selena was then rushed to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead from severe blood loss and cardiac arrest after doctors attempted to perform surgery.

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After a more than nine-hour standoff, Saldívar surrendered to police. She was sentenced to life in prison and is currently serving her sentence at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas.

Lasting Legacy

In the days following Selena’s horrifying death, fans descended upon the motel where she was shot to lay flowers and gifts. A public, open-casket funeral was held on April 2, with fans attending from all over the world. Her burial at Seaside Memorial Park in Corpus Christi took place on April 3.

Three months after her death, Selena’s first English-speaking single, “I Could Fall in Love,” was released, with her final album Dreaming of You following in July. It made history when it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, marking the first mostly-Spanish language album to achieve the feat. Former President George W. Bush, who was governor of Texas at the time of the singer’s death, declared her birthday, April 16, as Selena Day in her home state of Texas, the annual celebration continuing to this day.

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