Thirty years in the past, music legend Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was killed by her fan membership’s president, Yolanda Saldívar. For the final three many years, Saldívar has served her life sentence in Texas.
Now 64, Saldívar has a petition for parole underneath evaluate, in keeping with Texas Division of Felony Justice on-line information. On Sunday, she is up for parole for the very first time.
In keeping with a spokeswoman for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, her case shall be voted on or round then, however there is not any precise date for the choice to be launched.
Here is all the things it is advisable learn about Selena, Saldívar and the parole course of in Texas:
Born in 1971, Quintanilla-Pérez demonstrated an unbelievable vocal present in childhood, fronting Selena y Los Dinos along with her siblings A.B. and Suzette Quintanilla.
Her superstardom arrived within the early Nineteen Nineties, along with her distinctive mix of Tejano, pop, cumbia and different musical types manifesting in huge hits like “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” “Como la Flor,” “Amor Prohibido,” “No Me Queda Mas” and “Tu Solo Tu.”
Identified the world over as The Queen of Tejano, or much more merely simply as Selena, she broke boundaries for girls in Latin music. She opened the floodgates for a brand new technology of up to date artists of Latin descent who would go on to take pleasure in big reputation with mainstream American audiences. She typically sang in Spanish and spoke in English, reflecting a cross-cultural id that resonated with listeners.
She received her first Grammy in 1994 for greatest Mexican/Mexican-American album for “Stay,” turning into the primary feminine Tejano artist to win the class. She was simply 23 when she was killed the next yr. However her legacy endures for Mexican Individuals, Mexicans, Texans, Latinos and past.
Her posthumous English-language crossover album launched a number of months after her loss of life, “Dreaming of You,” topped the Billboard 200, that includes hits like “I Might Fall in Love” and “Dreaming of You.” In 1997, a biographical film about her life, “Selena,” would rapidly turn into a basic, additional launching the profession of lead Jennifer Lopez.
In 2017, she acquired a posthumous star on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame. On the time, according to a Hollywood Chamber of Commerce spokesperson, the gang was the largest-ever for a Stroll of Fame ceremony, breaking a 1998 document set by onlookers on the unveiling of the star for Mexican singer Vicente Fernández.
In 2021, she acquired a posthumous lifetime achievement award from the Grammys. There was no tribute.
Yolanda Saldívar, a former nurse, was the founder and president of Selena’s fan membership. She was additionally a supervisor of Selena’s clothes boutiques, Selena And so forth., however was fired in early 1995 after cash was found lacking.
On March 31, 1995, Selena went to Saldívar’s room on the Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi, Texas, to choose up enterprise information she wanted for a tax submitting, in keeping with courtroom testimony. A confrontation adopted.
Selena was shot within the again with a .38-caliber revolver within the motel room, ran outdoors and collapsed within the foyer. She was rushed to a close-by hospital and pronounced useless about an hour later.
Motel workers testified Selena named “Yolanda” in “room 158” as her attacker.
“I didn’t imply to do it. I didn’t imply to kill anyone,” a sobbing Saldívar mentioned throughout a 9-hour standoff with police, throughout which she held a gun to her head. She informed police she had purchased the .38-caliber revolver to kill herself.
The trial was moved to Houston due to heavy publicity.
Prosecutors contended that Saldívar shot the 23-year-old after the singer’s household suspected her of embezzling $30,000. The protection argued the gun went off by chance.
On October 23, 1995, the jury convicted Saldívar of first-degree homicide. She was sentenced to life in jail, with the opportunity of parole after 30 years — starting in 2025.
Saldívar didn’t face the loss of life penalty as a result of the crime contained not one of the aggravating circumstances required underneath Texas regulation, resembling a a number of homicide or a homicide dedicated throughout a theft.
In 1999, the Courtroom of Felony Appeals in Austin turned down Saldívar’s first plea for a brand new trial. In 2000, her lawyer Invoice Berchelmann requested the state to revisit the trial. He argued that prosecutors wrongly dismissed potential jurors due to race, didn’t disclose the prison document of a witness and made improper feedback in courtroom. He mentioned police additionally violated Saldívar’s rights by interrogating her after she requested for an lawyer.
In 2009, Saldívar misplaced an enchantment as a result of it was filed within the improper county. She had requested the courtroom to order an enchantment filed 9 years earlier in Nueces County to maneuver ahead, however the state’s highest prison appeals courtroom mentioned it ought to have been filed in Harris County, the place she was tried and convicted.
She’s incarcerated on the Patrick L. O’Daniel jail unit in Gatesville, Texas, about 90 minutes north of Austin.
In Texas, the parole division of the state’s Division of Felony Justice identifies inmates six months earlier than the date of their preliminary parole eligibility and pulls their case file for evaluate. Discover of an inmate’s eligibility for parole is distributed to officers concerned within the trial, any victims and victims’ relations.
An institutional parole officer with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles interviews an inmate and prepares a abstract for the board. The sufferer or the sufferer’s relations can present a written assertion and may seem in particular person earlier than board members.
The inmate’s file is then despatched to the parole board and voted on by a three-person panel. The panel will vote on a case simply previous to the inmate’s parole eligibility date and a majority of two votes is required for a remaining resolution.
In Texas, the board doesn’t conduct public parole hearings. Parole launch selections are made independently by every panel member.
Representatives for members of Quintanilla-Pérez’s household didn’t instantly reply to The Related Press’ request for remark this week.
A denial by the panel will embrace the date of the subsequent time an inmate shall be eligible for parole.
Saldívar was convicted of first-degree homicide, one of many crimes the place state regulation dictates that the subsequent evaluate after a denial might be performed wherever from one to 5 years from the date of the denial.
An approval by the panel might embrace particular situations the inmate should observe whereas on parole. Processing time for a launch differs from case to case. As soon as a launch certificates with an authorised residence plan is issued, it will likely be audited by the Texas Division of Felony Justice’s Classification and Information Division and a launch date is calculated. Usually, these processes can take two to 6 weeks to finish.
The governor can’t veto a parole resolution by the pardons board. The governor, upon suggestion by a majority of the pardons board, can grant clemency. That features pardons, commutations and reprieves.
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Related Press reporter Juan A. Lozano contributed to this report from Houston.
