Murder of Selena

The murder of American singer Selena Quintanilla happened on March 31, 1995. Fans were saddened when the news of her death was released by the media. She was shot dead by Yolanda Saldivar. Saldivar was an employee and manager for Selena's boutiques and fan club and was found to have been embezzling money.

Selena did not believe her best friend could do something like that and tried to maintain their friendship. However, by March 1995, Saldivar and Selena's friendship had begun to crumble. Selena and her husband Chris Pérez visited Saldívar on 30 March 1995 to get the documents that she had stolen. Saldívar did not give Selena all the documents. On the morning of 31 March 1995, Selena met up with Saldívar to collect  and missing documents for tax preparations. At the hotel, Selena demanded that Saldívar give her the missing financial papers. Saldívar then claimed that she was raped in Mexico. Selena took her to a local hospital where doctors found that Saldívar was lying. This made Selena decide to end her friendship with Saldívar. When Selena went to close the door, Saldivar took a gun from her purse and held Selena at gunpoint. In order to stop her from closing the door, she pulled the trigger and shot Selena in the back. Selena was taken to a local hospital, but was declared dead. Saldivar went to her pickup truck and threatened suicide, but gave herself up after nine hours.

Saldivar pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder, claiming that the shooting was an accident. However, she was found guilty by jury and sentenced to life in prison with  for parole in 2025. A lot of tributes were done throughout the United States and Mexico. Two life-sized statues were made in her honor. A 1997 movie was produced by Warner Bros.. It starred Jennifer Lopez as her breakthrough role.

Selena's death has been compared to those of Elvis Presley and John Lennon. Selena's death was called *Black Friday* by some Texans. George W. Bush declared April 16 as "Selena Day" in Texas. The event has gone on to become known as one of the darkest days in music history and helped to increase Selena's popularity in the United States.

## Background and killing 
### Early 1994-1995 
After Selena won a Grammy Award with *Selena Live!* (1993), Selena opened Selena Etc. The  had a beauty salon built inside. The boutiques were also a place where fans could buy merchandise made by Selena herself and official clothing. Selena hired Yolanda Saldivar as the registered agent for the San Antonio boutique. Saldivar became the manager for the Corpus Christi boutique. Around this time, Selena gave Saldivar her American Express card for business purposes. Staff members began complaining about Saldivar to Selena. Ramirez's job was to help Selena expand her business into Mexico. However, she quit in a week. Ramirez told Saldivar that she felt unhappy. She also did not like the way other staff members reported sales information. Saldivar made them feel that they had to work with her or that Selena would fire them. This was because Saldivar fired anyone who she did not like. In January 1995, Quintanilla Jr began receiving phone calls from angry Selena fans. They called Quintanilla Jr because they sent in their payments for the fan club and did not get anything. Within a week, Quintanilla Jr found vellum envelopes with checks signed by Saldivar. Quintanilla Jr asked Saldivar "where'd the money go?" but Saldivar just stared at him and gave no response. When Quintanilla Jr told Saldívar that he was going to get the police involved. Saldivar then returned the hand gun to the gun shop. She told the clerk that her father had given her a pistol.

### *Black Friday* 
At midnight on March 30, 1995, Selena and Perez drove to Saldivar's motel room. Perez waited for Selena by his pick-up truck. Selena went inside Saldivar's motel room. Selena asked for the documents that she needed for taxes. Saldivar gave her some of the missing documents, but when Selena and Perez arrived back home Selena noticed that Saldivar did not give her everything that she needed.  At the motel Selena demanded the financial papers at which point Saldivar called Selena and asked her to come back to her motel room, alone. Selena was met by Perez who told her that it was too late. Selena then told Saldivar that she would see her the next morning without Perez's knowledge.

On the morning of March 31, Selena drove to Saldivar's motel room. When she arrived, Selena asked for the missing documents. Saldivar delayed and told Selena that she had been raped in Mexico by a gang member. Selena felt bad and took her to a local hospital. There, a doctor and nurse checked to see for any signs of rape. When they were finished, the doctor and nurse took Selena aside and told her that Saldivar was making the whole thing up. Selena, now frustrated, took Saldivar back to her motel room and asked once again for the missing documents. Saldivar began to argue with Selena. A complaint was made from the next room asking the two ladies to stop arguing. Around this time, Selena removed the ring Saldivar had bought her. Selena announced that she could no longer trust Saldivar and Selena tried to leave.

At 11:49&nbsp;am, Saldivar took a pistol out of her purse. As Selena turned around, Saldivar shot her in the back. The gunshot instantly damaged a major artery near Selena's heart. Saldivar was attempting to shoot Selena again, but decided to flee back to the motel room.

Selena ran 392&nbsp;feet to the motel lobby. She left behind a trail of blood. Selena fell to the floor and asked the clerk to lock the doors, saying "she's going to shoot me again". The staff tried to comfort Selena to get answers on what had happened. A staff member called 9-1-1. Someone in the lobby recognized Selena and screamed "that's Selena!" Selena gave the room number where she had been shot. The information was then given to the local police. By this time an employee noticed that Selena began fading away. He noticed that there was little moaning and moving from Selena.

The ambulance arrived in less than one minute. They ripped off the top portion of Selena's jogging suit. They then put a Vaseline gauze on Selena's wound, which stopped the internal bleeding. At this time, Selena's heartbeat was very slow. A paramedic began CPR so that blood could get to Selena's brain and heart.

Saldivar entered her pickup truck and tried to leave the parking lot of the motel. However, a police officer was already heading that way. The police officer saw Saldivar's car. Saldivar then reversed and parked her car between two cars. The police then blocked the car from leaving the spot. The police came out and ordered Saldivar to freeze, at which point she then put the pistol to her right temple. More police officers tried to get Saldivar to give herself up. They then called the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit and SWAT team.

Around this time, a paramedic tried to start an IV on Selena. However, because Selena lost so much blood, her veins collapsed. This made it very hard to insert an IV. The paramedic then called Memorial Hospital to tell them that they have a shooting victim and that they could not insert an IV.

Navigation Boulevard was shut down by local police as they investigated the crime scene. At noon, the paramedics arrived at the hospital. Doctors and nurses tried to revive Selena. When they opened her chest, they found there was no blood at all. They gave a blood transfusion. Selena was a Jehovah's Witnesses and did not believe in blood transfusions, but Selena was unconscious and therefore unable to tell doctors her religion. After 50&nbsp;minutes, doctors believed the damage was too severe and Selena was pronounced dead at 1:05&nbsp;pm local time. They announced the cause as cardiac arrest and extensive bleeding. Selena was only two weeks away from her 24th birthday and two days away from her third anniversary to Chris Perez.

During the second hour, the FBI had communication with Saldivar. They tried to convince Saldivar to give herself up. One of the negotiators tried talking to Saldivar as if the shooting were an accident. Saldivar began believing that she did not mean to shoot Selena. She then stated that the pistol was meant for herself; she was going to commit suicide. She stated that the "gun went off". Around this time, a press conference was ordered. Assistant Police Chief Ken Bung and Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr, made an on-air announcement about the murder. Saldivar's name was still not being named in the media.

During the third hour, an autopsy was performed. This was because of the growing media interest. The autopsy revealed that the bullet entered Selena's lower back. It passed through Selena's chest cavity, which instantly damaged Selena's right subclavian artery. The bullet then exited the right upper chest. The autopsy also revealed that Selena's heart, fueled by adrenaline, pumped her blood out. The doctor said that if the bullet had hit Selena a millimeter higher or lower, the wound would not have been as severe.

During the fourth hour, Saldivar exclaimed that the gun was meant for herself. She also stated that when Selena tried to open the door, she asked her to leave the door closed. She said at that instant the gun went off. During the sixth hour, Saldivar agreed to give herself up. However, a police officer had a rifle. This caused Saldivar to panic and she went back to her truck. Saldivar gave herself up during the ninth hour. As police drove Saldivar away, fans cheered and cried tears of joy nearby.

## References