Selena Quintanilla rides in a carriage during a performance at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Astrodome in Texas on Feb. 26, 1995. Photo: Arlene Richie/Getty
On Feb. 26, 1995, Grammy Award-winning singer Selena Quintanilla — known to her fans as Selena — took the stage for what would be her last concert, a televised sold-out rodeo show with approximately 67,000 fans in attendance at the Houston Astrodome, per the Houston Chronicle.
One month later, she was murdered.
The perpetrator was none other than the former president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldívar. Saldívar, who was also entrusted with managing Selena’s clothing boutiques, fatally shot Selena in the back following an intense confrontation over financial discrepancies.
Saldívar was later sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole in 30 years. However, on March 27, 2025, she was denied parole.
Selena’s murder shocked the music industry and those who followed the rising star from her early days performing as a young child with her older brother A.B. Quintanilla and sister Suzette Quintanilla in their family band Selena y Los Diños.
Decades later, her family and widowed husband, Chris Pérez, have kept her memory alive with annual musical tributes, a museum preserving her belongings and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
When asked about Selena’s long-lasting impact, her dad, Abraham Quintanilla, told PEOPLE in 2021 that her memory continues to live through fans.
“Over the years, the new generations have discovered her and have fallen in love with her,” he said. “Selena’s life was cut short, but her fans have carried her throughout the years, and her legacy is being passed on from generation to generation. That in itself is incredible.”
As we honor the 30th anniversary of her death on March 31, here’s what to know about Selena’s murder and the enduring legacy she left behind.
Selena Quintanilla smiles backstage at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Astrodome in Texas on Feb. 26, 1995. Arlene Richie/Getty
Selena was fatally shot by the then 34-year-old Saldívar, a former nurse. Saldívar attended one of the Latin superstar’s concerts and later contacted Selena’s father about starting a fan club. They met in June 1991 when she became the founder and acting president of the club in San Antonio, where she was reportedly responsible for membership and fundraising.
According to The New York Times, Selena and her family accused Saldívar of embezzling money from the singer’s businesses during a meeting on March 2, 1995. After Saldívar was fired, she purchased a .38-caliber revolver and arranged to meet Selena at a Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi, Texas, at the end of that month.
The purpose of their encounter was to retrieve financial records that Saldívar had previously refused to hand over. As the exchange escalated into an argument, Selena attempted to leave the room and was shot in her upper right back, near her shoulder blade. Despite the serious wound, the “Como la Flor” artist managed to run to the motel lobby, with Saldívar following after her with the gun.
When Selena reached the front desk just before noon, she yelled for help and collapsed on the floor. While the Days Inn staff called for an ambulance and attempted to stop the bleeding, Saldívar returned to her room. Per eyewitness accounts, the singer identified who shot her and the motel room number before losing consciousness (via ABC7).
The Associated Press reported that the hollow-point bullet damaged Selena’s right shoulder, lung veins and a major artery in her collarbone. The culmination of the injuries caused “a massive ongoing blood loss,” according to cardiac surgeon Dr. Louis Elkins, who was supposed to perform surgery on the artist. However, by the time she arrived in the emergency room, Selena was clinically brain dead.
Selena Quintanilla performs at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Astrodome in Texas on Feb. 26, 1995. Arlene Richie/Getty
According to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Selena died at 1:05 p.m. on March 31, 1995, from excessive blood loss as a result of the bullet hitting an artery.
Selena Quintanilla performs at the opening of the Hard Rock Cafe in San Antonio on Jan. 12, 1995. Larry Busacca/Getty
Selena died outside the Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi, Texas.
“She said, ‘Lock the door! She’ll shoot me again,’ ” eyewitness and front desk clerk Shawna Vela reportedly said on the 911 call, uncovered by ABC7. “We have a woman … ran into the lobby … She’s been shot… She’s laying [sic] on the floor, and there’s blood.”
The motel staff called for an ambulance, which arrived on the scene in 1 minute and 55 seconds. By this point, Selena had stopped breathing, and paramedics performed CPR on her. They also applied gauze with pressure to stop the bleeding while transporting her from the Days Inn to the Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital.
When they arrived, doctors made efforts to save her life, including performing open heart massage and blood transfusions. Although medical staff attempted to reestablish a steady heart rate, Selena showed no sign of neurological function due to massive internal bleeding, according to the Associated Press. After about an hour, the “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” singer was pronounced dead at 1:05 p.m.
Selena Quintanilla in the press room at the 36th annual Grammy Awards in New York City on March 1, 1994. Vinnie Zuffante/Getty
Born April 16, 1971, Selena was 23 years old at the time of her death. She was just two weeks shy of her 24th birthday.
Weeks before her death, Selena attended and was nominated at the Grammys on March 1, 1995, for best Mexican-American performance for the album Amor Prohibido, featuring U.S. Billboard Hot Latin chart-toppers such as the title track, “No Me Queda Más,” “Fotos y Recuerdos” and “Si Una Vez.”
Though she didn’t win that year, she was honored posthumously with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Grammys, per USA Today.
Ahead of the show, her father, Abraham, told PEOPLE his daughter “would have been very excited for this honor, just like she was when she won her Grammy back in 1994.”
Selena Quintanilla poses for a portrait, circa late 1980s. Courtesy Everett Collection
According to the Los Angeles Times, a desk clerk at the Days Inn later testified that as Selena made her way from the room where Saldívar shot her to the lobby, she was trailing blood behind her and screaming, “Help me! Help me! I’ve been shot!”
In the lobby, Selena collapsed and yelled at the staff, “Lock the door! She’ll shoot me again!”
As the motel’s manager called for an ambulance, Selena identified Saldívar as her shooter and the room where she was staying in her last words: “Yolanda … 158.”
A short time later, Saldívar was caught in a standoff with authorities while in a pickup truck in the motel’s parking lot. After more than nine hours, she surrendered to the police and FBI but declared it was an accidental shooting.
Saldívar was charged with first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty, with her lawyer claiming the shooting was not intentional and that Saldívar was actually trying to shoot herself.
“They made me out to be a monster, and I just want to say, I did not kill Selena,” she said during a 20/20 interview in 1995. “It was an accident, and my conscience is clear.”
On Oct. 23, 1995, the jury found Saldívar guilty, and she was later sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 30 years, per The New York Times. She filed her first petition for parole in January 2025 — according to online records from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice — claiming there’s a “bounty on her head” in jail (via ABC13).
Saldívar is serving her sentence at the Patrick O’Daniel Unit (formerly known as the Mountain View Unit) in Gatesville, Texas, and became eligible for parole on March 30, 2025 — just one day before the 30th anniversary of Selena’s murder.
However, on March 27, Saldívar was denied parole and will continue her sentence until her next parole hearing in 2030.
Fans of Selena Quintanilla pay their respects after her death on March 31, 1995. Barbara Laing/Getty
Selena’s death was devastating to her loved ones and fans, prompting vigils and memorials throughout Texas and California, where she was most popular.
As documented by AP Archive, the singer’s family held an open-casket viewing ahead of her funeral at the Bayfront Plaza Convention Center. She was surrounded by bouquets of white roses donated by fans, and as tens of thousands of mourners walked by and paid their respects, her dad, Abraham, thanked them for coming.
Shortly after, Selena was buried at Seaside Memorial Park on April 3, 1995, reported the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. During the ceremony, her husband, Chris, was spotted, and afterward, family members, friends and fans laid white roses on her casket to say goodbye. Her gravesite is marked with a bronze image of the singer and her signature.
Only a few miles from Selena’s burial site, a monument opened in her honor on May 25, 1997. Mirador de la Flor, which translates to Lookout of the Flower, features a motif of white roses and a life-size bronze statue of the singer leaning against a center pillar, looking over the Corpus Christi Bay.
From left: Chris Perez, A.B. Quintanilla III, Suzette Quintanilla, Marcella Quintanilla and Abraham Quintanilla honor Selena Quintanilla-Perez with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Nov. 3, 2017, in Hollywood, Calif. David Livingston/Getty
Selena is widely regarded as one of the most influential Latin music artists. Though she was killed before the completion of her first bilingual album, Dreaming of You, it was released posthumously on July 18, 1995.
An immediate success, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, the album remained in the top 200 for 49 weeks. Needless to say, Selena’s immense influence on the music industry remains cemented in place years after her death.
Her family is ensuring her legacy lives on at the Selena Museum, where her iconic wardrobe, various awards and other memorabilia — including the iconic tour bus — are on display. In 2017, the Quintanilla-Perez family celebrated Selena receiving a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. More than 4,500 fans attended the unveiling, and former Mayor Eric Garcetti declared Nov. 3 as “Selena Day” in Los Angeles, per NBC News. Selena’s sister, Suzette, accepted on her behalf.
Selena’s life has also been captured on the big and small screen, as well as in documentaries shedding light on her murder. One of the most acclaimed depictions of the late Mexican-American singer’s rise to fame (and sad ending) was Jennifer Lopez‘s portrayal in the eponymous 1997 biopic.
On the 25th anniversary of the film’s release in 2022, Lopez honored Selena on Instagram, writing, “This movie means so much to me … Selena and her family mean so much to me, and I was so lucky to be chosen to play her.”
Not only did her performance lead to a Golden Globe nomination in 1998, but the role also catapulted Lopez to superstardom, which she acknowledged during a video interview with Variety.
“I had been doing television and actually had done a few movies already, but with Selena, there was a new level of fame.”
Her tragic story was dramatized on Netflix’s Selena: The Series, starring Christian Serratos as the adult version of the titular star and Madison Taylor Baez of America’s Got Talent fame as the younger Selena.
Nearly a year before Saldívar filed for parole, Oxygen launched the three-part docuseries Selena & Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them in 2024, featuring prison interviews with Saldívar. Deadline reported in February 2025 that Netflix was bidding for the rights to the documentary Selena y Los Dinos after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 26.
Selena y Los Dinos chronicles her time with the band and solo career, along with never-before-seen footage from the family’s personal archive and new details about Selena and Chris’ love story.
“After she was married with Chris she would just always tell me about her dreams,” Suzette said in the doc of her late sister before adding, “We would talk about getting married, about me getting married one day, about her having children, her kids and my kids were gonna play together, and we were going to make sure that we were going to raise them together. Normal stuff.”
