30 years after Selena’s murder, Yolanda Saldívar requests probation

30 years ago, the legend of the music Selena Quintanilla (whose legal name is Selena Quintanilla-Pérez) was killed by the president of her fans club, Yolanda Saldívar. During the last three decades, Saldívar has purged his life sentence in Texas.

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Now, with 64 years, Saldívar has a request for probation under reviewaccording to the online records of the Criminal Justice of Texas. On Sunday, it will be presented for the first time to request your probation.

According to a spokeswoman for the Board of Indults and Probation of Texas, your case will be voted around that date, but there is no exact day for the decision to be published.

We tell you everything you need to know about Selena, Saldívar and the probation process in Texas:

Who was Selena Quintanilla?

Selena Quintanilla was born in 1971. From her childhood she demonstrated an incredible vocal talent, leading the band ‘Selena and the Tells’ with her brothers AB and Suzette Quintanilla.

The top of its stardom came in the early 1990s, with its unique mixture of Tejana, Pop, Cumbia and other musical styles that were reflected in great hits such as ‘Bidi Bidi Bom Bom’, ‘Like the flower’, ‘Forbidden Love’, ‘I don’t have more’ and ‘You only you’.

Known worldwide as The Queen of the Texan, or simply as Selenabarriers broke for women in Latin music. He opened the doors for a new generation of contemporary artists of Latin ancestry who would enjoy great popularity among the American public. He often sang in Spanish and spoke in English, reflecting a graduate identity that resonated with the listeners.

He won his first Grammy in 1994 for the best Mexican/Mexican-American album for ‘Live’, becoming the first female artist of Texan music to win in this category.

The following year, With just 23 years, she was killed. But his legacy endures for the Mexican-American, Mexicans, Texans, Latinos and beyond.

His posthumous album in English, released a few months after his death, ‘Dreaming of You’, reached number one in the Billboard 200 list, with successes such as ‘I Could Fall in Love’ and ‘Dreaming of You’. In 1997, a biographical film about his life, ‘Selena’, would quickly become a classic, promoting the career of his leading actress, Jennifer Lopez.

In 2017, he received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At that time, according to a spokesman for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the crowd was the largest ever registered for a ceremony of the Paseo de la Fama, breaking a 1998 record established by the spectators in the revelation of the star of the Mexican singer Vicente Fernández.

In 2021, he received a posthumous prize for the Trajectory of the Grammy.

Who is Yolanda Saldívar?

Yolanda Saldívar, an ex -fermera, was the founder and president of the Selena Fans Club. He was also a manager of the Boutiques Selena’s clothesSelena etc., but was fired in early 1995 after it was discovered that money was missing.

How did Selena die?

On March 31, 1995, Selena went to Saldívar’s room at the Motel Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas, to collect commercial records that he needed for a tax declaration, according to the testimony at the trial. In his encounter there was a confrontation.

Selena was shot in the back with a .38 caliber revolver in the motel room, she ran out and collapsed in the lobby. She was urgently taken to a nearby hospital, but was declared dead about an hour later.

«I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to kill anyone,» said Sollozos during a nine -hour confrontation with the police, during which he pointed with a gun in the head. He told the police that he had bought the .38 caliber revolver to commit suicide.

What happened in Yolanda Saldívar trial?

The trial moved to Houston due to intense advertising.

Prosecutors argued that Saldívar shot at the 23 -year -old After the singer’s family suspected that she had embezzled $ 30,000. The defense argued that the weapon accidentally fired.

On October 23, 1995, the jury condemned Saldívar for first -degree murder. It was sentenced to life imprisonment, with the possibility of probation after 30 years, which are fulfilled this 2025.

Saldívar did not face the death penalty because the crime did not contain any of the aggravating circumstances required by the Texas Law, such as multiple murder or murder committed during a robbery.

In 1999, the Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin rejected the first request to Saldívar for a new trial. In 2000, his lawyer Bill Berchelmann asked the State to review the trial. He argued that prosecutors erroneously dismissed potential juries for their race, did not reveal the criminal history of a witness, in addition to making inappropriate comments in the court. He added that the police also violated Saldívar rights when questioning her after she requested a lawyer.

In 2009, Saldívar lost an appeal because it was filed in the wrong county. She had requested that it would be ordered to advance with an appeal filed nine years earlier in nut county, but the highest appeal criminal court said that it should have been submitted in Harris County, where she was judged and convicted.

It is imprisoned in the Patrick L. O’Daniel Penitentiary Unit in Gatesville, Texas, Approximately 90 minutes north of Austin.

How does probation works in Texas?

In Texas, the State Department of Criminal Justice Department identifies the inmates six months before the date of their initial eligibility for probation and extracts its file for review. A notice about the eligibility of an inmate for probation for probation to the officials involved in the trial, the victims and the relatives of the victims are sent.

An institutional probation officer of the Board of Indults and Probation of Texas interviews a inmate and prepares a summary for the Board. The victim or relatives of the victim can provide a written statement and can appear in person before the members of the Board.

The inmate file is then sent to the Board of Probation and is voted by a panel of three people. The panel will vote on a case just before the date of eligibility for the prousion of the prison and a majority of two votes for a final decision is needed.

In Texas, the Board does not carry out public probation audiences. Decisions on conditional release are taken independently by each member of the panel.

The representatives of the family members of Quintanilla-Pérez did not respond at the moment to a request for comments from the AP agency this week.

What happens if the probation of Saldívar is denied or if approved?

A negative on the part of the panel will include the date of the next time an inmate will be eligible for probation.

Saldívar was condemned by homicide in the first degreeone of the crimes where state law dictates that the next review after a refusal can be made within one to five years from the date of the refusal.

An approval by the panel could include special conditions that the inmate must follow while on probation. The processing time for a release varies from one case to another. Once a liberation certificate is issued with an approved residence plan, it will be audited by the Department of Classification and Registries of the Department of Criminal Justice of Texas and a release date is calculated. Typically, these processes can take two to six weeks to complete.

The governor cannot veto a probation decision of the Board of Indults. The governor, to the recommendation of the majority of the Board of Indults, can grant clemency. This includes pardons, switches and suspensions.