Yolanda Saldívar, the woman convicted of killing singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, has filed for parole after spending nearly 30 years in prison.
Saldívar was president of Selena’s fan club and had been accused of embezzling more than $60,000 from the fan club, when she was arrested for killing the beloved singer.
Selena, known as the “Queen of Tejano music,” confronted Saldívar on March 31, 1995, in a Corpus Christi, Texas hotel room over the missing funds and was fatally shot.
The music icon was just 23 years old at the time of her death.
Saldívar was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole.
Saldívar, now 64, has filed paperwork to be released from prison in 2025, the New York Post reported on Dec. 29.
An official with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told the outlet Saldívar has stayed out of trouble in prison, but fellow inmates said she has “a bounty on her head” and is in protective custody.
Former inmate Yesenia Dominguez told the Post other prisoners want justice for Selena.
“Everyone was always like, ‘Let me have five minutes with that b—h,’” Dominguez said. “Everyone wanted to get justice for Selena. There’s a target on her back.”
Marisol Lopez, another former inmate who served five years alongside Saldívar, said she is “hated.”
“Everyone knows who Yolanda Saldívar is,” said Lopez. “There’s a bounty on her head, like everyone wants a piece of her. The guards keep her away from everyone else, because she’s hated so much. If she were out [in general population], someone would try to take her down.”
Selena was born in Corpus Christi in 1971, and her star was on the rise when she was killed.
Saldívar has long maintained that she meant to kill herself instead of the singer.
In a Peacock documentary about the case titled Selena and Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them, Saldívar defended her reputation.
“I was convicted by public opinion even before my trial started,” she said.
