Current:Home > NewsSelena Quintanilla's killer Yolanda Saldívar speaks out from prison in upcoming Oxygen docuseries -TrueNorth Capital Hub
Selena Quintanilla's killer Yolanda Saldívar speaks out from prison in upcoming Oxygen docuseries
View
Date:2025-04-18 01:55:06
Yolanda Saldívar, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez' convicted killer, is set to appear in a new documentary TV series from Oxygen True Crime.
The show will premiere with back-to-back episodes at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17 and Sunday, Feb. 18. Episodes will be available to stream on Peacock the day after they air.
The two-part limited series, "Selena & Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them," will include interviews with Saldívar from prison, details of her working relationship and friendship with Selena and interviews with Saldívar's family. The series will share never-before-revealed documents and recordings "in an effort to show there was more to the tragedy than the public knows," according to a release.
"After so many years, I think it's time to set the story straight," Saldívar said in the trailer for the series. "I knew her secrets, and I think the people deserve to know the truth."
'It was traumatic':Selena Quintanilla's widower reflects on singer's murder 26 years later
Is Yolanda Saldivar still in prison?
Saldívar is currently serving life in prison for the murder of the Tejano star.
The show premiere comes one year before Saldívar is eligible for parole, Mar. 30, 2025 — almost 30 years after the Queen of Tejano's murder.
When did Selena Quintanilla die?
Selena was fatally shot by Saldívar on March 31, 1995, just two weeks ahead of what would have been her 24th birthday. Saldívar allegedly killed Selena after the Grammy Award-winning singer learned she had been embezzling money from her clothing boutiques.
Police arrested then-34-year-old Saldívar after a nine-and-a-half-hour standoff. She surrendered after threatening to commit suicide as she sat in a pickup, according to the Caller-Times, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Where was Selena Quintanilla killed?
Selena was shot in the back before noon at the Days Inn Hotel and was taken to Memorial Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 1:05 p.m. A Days Inn housekeeper, identified only as Norma, said she was checking a room around 11:40 a.m. when she heard two women talking and then saw Selena running out of the room.
"She was running from a girl that she had been talking to," Norma said. "Selena ran out of the room and near the pool, and then the girl followed her and shot her while she was running."
After she was shot, Selena ran around the side of the hotel to the front of the lobby, where she encountered Carlos Morales who was waiting for a ride outside the hotel.
"I heard somebody screaming and running and screaming 'Help me,' so I looked back, and I didn't know who she was, I just thought, 'Oh man, she got shot,'" Morales said. "She ran up to me and kind of grabbed onto me, so I carried her inside, into the lobby and then she crawled in behind the counter.
"She said 'They shot me. She's in room 158. Lock the door, they're going to come in and shoot me again,'" Morales said. "I didn't know if whoever shot her was going to come into the lobby and shoot everybody or what. She was just in shock."
After Morales carried her inside, he helped her lay down on the floor while the hotel clerk called police. An off-duty police officer was in the restaurant of the hotel at the time and also called for help.
"After she laid on the floor she kind of passed out and was just being quiet," Morales said. "We kept telling her, 'You'll be all right.' I was with a friend of mine, and he was holding her where her heart was. It looked like she was shot in the back and it (the bullet) came out through the front."
Morales said he never saw Saldívar, but after police arrived he went to room 158 to see what was going on. The door was closed, he said, and there was blood on the ground, blood on the door handle, and on the carpet.
Former Nueces County Medical Examiner Dr. Lloyd White told the Caller-Times Selena died of severe blood loss after a bullet struck the back of her right shoulder and hit an artery. "She was virtually dead on arrival at the hospital," White said.
Saldívar surrendered about 9:35 p.m. Police wrestled her to the ground and handcuffed her.
What happened to Yolanda Saldivar?
Saldívar's trial began Oct. 9, 1995, and ended with a verdict Oct. 23, 1995. She was tried on one count of first-degree murder.
On April 3, 1995, Saldívar was arraigned and pleaded not guilty. She said the shooting was accidental and she intended to commit suicide.
The prosecution team called around 50 witnesses, including Selena's father Abraham Quintanilla Jr., her widower Chris Pérez, the owners of the gun shop where Saldívar purchased the firearm, employees from her boutiques, employees at the Days Inn motel where Selena was shot and emergency personnel.
The defense called fewer witnesses, which included Saldívar's parents, former co-workers, motel staff at the Days Inn, Selena's former seventh-grade teacher and the lead murder investigator.
The evidence used in the trial included the gun used to kill Selena, the outfit Saldívar wore the day she claimed she was sexually assaulted and the recorded conversations between FBI negotiators Larry Young and Issac Valencia, and Saldívar.
After a two-hour deliberation, the jury convicted Saldívar of murder and she was sentenced to a maximum of life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole until March 2025.
Contributing: Marley Malenfant, John Oliva, Austin American-Statesman
veryGood! (8696)
Related
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Trial date set for Maryland man facing hate crime charges after fatal shooting over parking
- Taylor Momsen was 'made fun of relentlessly' for starring in 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'
- Earth just had its hottest summer on record, U.N. says, warning climate breakdown has begun
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- Stock market today: Asian shares fall as China reports weaker global demand hit its trade in August
- 'We're coming back': New Washington Commanders owners offer vision of team's future
- Police manhunt for Danelo Cavalcante presses on; schools reopen, perimeter shifts
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- LSU, women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey agree to record 10-year, $36 million extension
Ranking
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- A Democratic prosecutor is challenging her suspension by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
- Everyone’s talking about the Global South. But what is it?
- King Charles III shows his reign will be more about evolution than revolution after year on the job
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Ex-Trump aide Peter Navarro found guilty of contempt of Congress
- Naomi Osaka says she's returning to pro tennis in 2024
- Freddie Mercury bangle sold for nearly $900K at auction, breaking record for rock star jewelry
Recommendation
Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
Australian minister says invasive examinations were part of reason Qatar Airways was refused flights
Another inmate dies at Fulton County Jail, 10th inmate death this year
Performing arts center finally opens at ground zero after 2 decades of setbacks and changed plans
US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
Taylor Momsen was 'made fun of relentlessly' for starring in 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'
Lainey Wilson leads the 2023 Country Music Award nominations for the second year in a row
Mother allegedly confined 9-year-old to home since 2017, had to 'beg to eat': Police