True Crime with Kendall Rae - Selena Quintanilla: A Star’s Life Cut Short by Crazed Fan

Episode Date: January 18, 2023

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was an American singer, songwriter, spokesperson, model, actress, and fashion designer. Called the Queen of Tejano music, her contributions to music and fashion made her one ...of the most celebrated Mexican-American entertainers of the late 20th century.  Check out Kendall's other podcasts: The Sesh & Mile Higher Follow Kendall! YouTube Twitter Instagram Facebook Mile Higher Zoo REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://bit.ly/32kwPly Form for people directly related/ close to the victim: https://bit.ly/3KqMZLj Discord: https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN CONTACT: For Business Inquiries - kendall@INFAgency.com

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Starting point is 00:00:30 Hey guys, welcome back to my channel and welcome to another true crime video. So today is another celebrity case, case actually and this is a very famous person. Today I'm going to be telling you about the death of Selena Kintanya. Now a lot of you probably know who Selena is but some of you probably don't because she was gone before you even had a chance to listen to her because you may not have been born yet. She is famous in the very late 80s and the 90s. Selena is often referred to as the Mexican Madonna. She was extremely, extremely talented and her death is one of the most tragic things because she was really on track to becoming like a top chart artist. Not that she wasn't, you know, she did become more, you know, legendary and well-known after she passed actually,
Starting point is 00:01:25 but she likely would have been a household name just in general. So if you haven't heard this story, buckle up because it's crazy. Let's go ahead and get started talking about Selena. So she was born on April 16th of 1971 in Lake Jackson, Texas and she was the youngest child of Marcella and Abraham. And Abraham was actually a Mexican-American musician.
Starting point is 00:01:47 He wasn't super well-known or anything, but she definitely got her love for music from him. She's described as someone who was very, very fun, charismatic, you know, just really bubbly. She was an airy, so she had a lot of upbeat, high energy personality to her. And she was very loving and warm and people really were drawn to her energy. She was very, very down to her earth, she was carefree, she was very, very humble. So her family started noticing her musical abilities when she was like six and a half
Starting point is 00:02:17 ish and she released her first real soundtrack when she was only eight years old. So the Quintenia family was extremely tight knit, very, very close. A lot of people compared them to the Jackson Five. In 1980, in Lake Jackson, Selenis father ended up opening a Tex-Mex restaurant and it was called Papa Gaios. And that is where they would actually perform most of the time.
Starting point is 00:02:38 So her family was very close knit. Obviously they worked together, lived together, did it, did everything together. But the restaurant wasn't open very long and the following year it was actually closed because they went through a recession. So unfortunately their family had to file for bankruptcy and that just ruins things. And they were eventually evicted from their home, which was very traumatic for Selena. Um, I think in a way her going through that experience gave her a lot of her drive. She was a very, very passionate driven person, very serious about things.
Starting point is 00:03:09 Part of that is being in areas, but I think also she had been at the lowest of the low or she had seen her family struggle and so she wanted to eventually provide for them. But eventually her family did end up settling in the Corpus Christi area in Texas and their family ended up forming a band and their family band was actually called Selena Elos Dinos and her father became kind of like their manager and would take them around try to get them gigs at like birthday parties events fairs carnivals things like that and it actually wasn't long before she started getting some eyes on her started gaining popularity and they realized just how talented she was.
Starting point is 00:03:44 Selena had a gorgeous singing voice. Her pitch is nearly perfect. She loved to perform. I love you. I love you. I love you. It was kind of hard at first, because of the fact I knew that it was a means of putting food on the table
Starting point is 00:03:59 for the whole family. You know, we did it to make a living. At the beginning, when they were very young, I guess in a sense you could say that, yeah, I forced them. Because kids at that age came make up their mind what they want, you know. The whole family loved performing, and especially Selena, like she was just loving it.
Starting point is 00:04:23 And as her popularity was growing, her dad decided to go ahead and pull her out of school. And this happened when she was in only eighth grade, which is kind of crazy, but she did end up getting an education. In fact, at 17, Selena earned her high school diploma from the American School of Correspondence in Chicago, and eventually she even enrolled
Starting point is 00:04:41 in Pacific Western University studying business administration. No matter what happens in the future, no one can take away my education. It gives me the power and the confidence to know that I can always contribute to my family and my community. Use your head, stay in school. Then in 1984, Selena ended up recording her first record called Selena E. Lose Dinos. And she actually really wanted to do English-speaking songs. In fact, she spoke more English. But Zalina's father and people around her thought that she was best suited for Tejano music.
Starting point is 00:05:10 Tejano music is a combination or should I say a fusion of different types of music all rolled into one package. It's country music, it's jazz, it has roots of German polka, it also has Mexican music in it. in Volca. It also has Mexican music in it. Oh, oh, baby! So while she was recording her album, she actually did have to learn Spanish. Like, she knew a lot of Spanish, obviously, but she had to learn it completely to record the album. In 1985, to promote her album, she ended up going on the Johnny Canal show. Yes, but we're negotiating now.
Starting point is 00:05:41 And there are a lot of things, a lot of things. What happened to two women and a channel? Two women and a truck. How did you like it? To record that, this is Mr. Emilio de la Rosa llamó a mi papá para terminar la telenovela, pero yo no creo que tenemos tiempo. There was this music producer,
Starting point is 00:05:56 and his name was Jose Behar. And he worked for a record label called EMI Latin Records. And he actually saw Selena perform at the 1989 Tejano Music Awards, and he instantly wanted to sign her. Hey, let's see if they can hear it. Oh! Oh! Oh!
Starting point is 00:06:14 Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Selena performing, I saw somebody who was vibrant, who was energetic, who was full of life. I remember when back and said he was like, what did he want, what did he want, you know.
Starting point is 00:06:27 We had just opened up EMI Latin. We were looking for the quote-unquote glorious Stefan for EMI Latin. And I just said, this is too good to be true. It's that needle in the haystack. And I told them and everybody started to high-fine. How's that word, high-five? She had the ability to interpret songs at such a young age,
Starting point is 00:06:51 with such feeling, with such emotion, with a tear drop in that vocal cord. After signing with the MI, Selena took a conservative traditional regional sound and spiced it with her own flamm. And she agreed. So she signed on with them and ended up releasing her first debut album called Selena on October 17th, 1989. And in September of 1990, Selena released her second studio album called Ven Commigo. And then it was really like the early 90s where things really started
Starting point is 00:07:22 to take off for Selena and she had some really popular hits. So her career was just booming. She was doing really, really well and she ended up getting a lot of fans. Selena Quintanilla! Selena Quintanilla! Oh! And she ended up meeting one of these fans, and her name was Yolanda Salvidar.
Starting point is 00:07:50 And this woman was a huge fan of Selena, like, superfan. She was like a stan of the 90s. So tell me about your first meeting. I was... like meeting Whitney Houston. Yolanda was actually a nurse, and she was living in San Antonio, Texas. The way that Selena met Yolanda is she ended up going to one of Selena's concerts and just
Starting point is 00:08:14 loved it. Like fell in love with the girl and she liked the concert so much that she ended up contacting Selena's father and told them that she wanted to be somehow involved with Selena. She wanted to actually start a fan club. Do you guys remember like fan clubs? I don't know if people still join fan clubs anymore, but when I was younger, it was like a thing. Like the Mary Kay National fan club, you joined that?
Starting point is 00:08:34 I never got to be part of it. My mom said no. Hey, so what's Topgolf? Well, it's golf, but it's also not golf. Not golf? Yeah, not golf, but still golf. And not golf? Yes.
Starting point is 00:08:50 With the golf. Exactly. So you're saying it's golf? And not golf. Just to be clear, Topgolf is 100% golf. And also 100% not golf. But that's 200%. Right, but it's like a million percent fun,
Starting point is 00:09:02 so can we stop doing math and just go play? It's golf. It's not golf. It's top golf. Download the app, book a bay, and come play around. So anyway, she wanted to run this fan club, and here's the thing you have to understand about this story. Selena was an extremely humble person. If you're gonna be somebody you need to be a leader and not a follower. Gangs are only for followers and you have to be strong minded. Music is not a very stable business. You know it comes and it goes and so does many but your education stays with you for the rest of your life. She wanted to be very accessible to the people. She wanted to feel like at autograph signings that people were just hanging out with someone
Starting point is 00:09:46 that they knew like a friend. And she really was serious about this. She really wanted to like hire her own fans and wanted to have relationships with people who supported her. And so she ended up really liking Yolanda. They meant sometime in 1990 or 1991. I'm not exactly sure that was a bit confusing,
Starting point is 00:10:03 but she had already been running the fan club for a little bit when Selena met her. And the fan club was going really well. There's already a few thousand people from the time that Yolanda launched it. And over time, Yolanda worked her way in closer to the family. She really befriended all of them, especially Selena.
Starting point is 00:10:20 And she ended up doing other jobs for Selena. She kind of was like her assistant and advisor in a way and it wasn't long before she was always there. Like there are so many pictures we can see this like little woman in the background and it's very very strange but Selena really ended up having a relationship with Yolanda. They definitely were like friends and over time Yolanda started showing more signs of being possessive over Selena, controlling people said that it almost became to the point where it was impossible to even talk to Selena without going through Yolanda first. She was controlling of her and people around
Starting point is 00:10:55 her said that she was just acting very like protective of her. So backtrack a tiny bit here in 1989. Selena first met this man named Chris Perez and handed it to becoming the new guitarist for their band and Selena and him really really hit it off and they started having a relationship which they tried to hide from her family for a while because her dad just wasn't a fan of him so much so then in 1992 he ended up firing him from the band but on April 2nd of that year Selena decided no that's not gonna work, and she and Chris Perez went and eloped.
Starting point is 00:11:28 They got married without telling anybody. Selena kind of figured that if she just went ahead and did it, her father would really have no choice but to support her. I think that's a lot of people's logic when they alope. But obviously, as a celebrity, it's really hard to keep anything secret, and it wasn't long before the media started reporting that they had alopeved and her dad found out and he was pissed. And I like to thank my husband. I love you. He was upset for a really long period of time, but eventually got over it.
Starting point is 00:11:57 And he and Selena lived in an apartment in Corpus Christi and her father apologized and everything went on as normal. He was even accepted back into the band. Where'd that happen? Okay, la more de mi vida. Only a month after her marriage, Selina wasn't slowing down at all and she released her third studio album called Entrez de Memundo in May of 1992. And I apologized in advance in my pronunciations for these names are horrible. I was literally awful at Spanish so. So this album was considered
Starting point is 00:12:29 to be her breakthrough album. It's definitely what really launched her career into being a number one selling artist. In fact, she was number one on the US Billboard regional Mexican album start for eight consecutive months and it was actually certified 10 times platinum. She became the first
Starting point is 00:12:44 female artist to sell over 300,000 copies. At this point her fame literally started to skyrocket and her fanbase grew extremely quickly. In 1993, she recorded a live album called Live, and she had two different songs in the top five US Billboard Top Latin Songs chart, and Live even ended up winning a Grammy award for Best Mexican American album in 1994. It was also named album of the year by Billboard Latin Music Awards. In addition to music, Selena also had a huge passion for fashion. She loved to pick out her clothes, she designed a lot of her clothes, she lit an amazing some of her own clothes that she wore while she was performing. And in 1994, she began designing and manufacturing a line of clothing.
Starting point is 00:13:26 She opened two different boutiques called Selena, et cetera. And one was in Corpus Christi and the other one was in San Antonio. And these were pretty unique places because they both had in-house beauty salons. And Selena's clothing line was super unique. And we're definitely inspired by the outfits that she herself was known for wearing.
Starting point is 00:13:41 They're here. And it's really cool because a lot of places where they cut the hair. They have to take the customer and go get their hair shampoo and then bring them back and they like dripping water everywhere. So this way they just turn around the chair, turn around like this.
Starting point is 00:13:55 Turn around, they lift this up right here and they put the chair back and wash the hair. And it's really cool because they never have to get up. Turn around, they start topping away. Cool, huh? Over here we have the many kinds of dishes. And they're really cool because they're like low-moderate, right behind you some of all the biceers and different types.
Starting point is 00:14:15 I'm going to get them to get one of those for a shunner, pretty. And that's great. You probably look nice in the green one. No, but we have hats and everything. All right, get that, let me go. Three, two, one el mundo. Hola, ¿qué tal, amigos? 3, 2, 1, y... Hola, ¿qué tal, amigos? Yo soy Selena.
Starting point is 00:14:29 Y quiero invitarlos a pa' que vean el show de Patrismo. Cada domingo no se lo piensan. ¡Esa es el rock! Era el show, Patrismo, por su primer aniversario. ¡Vamos! Hola, ¿qué tal, amigos? Ahora estamos en mi. Aquí me está por por por por. And the Quintania family was very happy with Yolanda, you know, managing the fan club. I thought she was doing a great job, so they ended up hiring her to manage both of the boutiques. And I'm the one that suggested what about that girl that runs a fan club in San Antonio.
Starting point is 00:15:09 She looks pretty like a nice person and that's how you'll come to the picture. It was then that she hired me in 1994. Even though you had no business experience. Even though I had no business experience now. And it has reported that Selena made over $5 million from these boutiques. In March of 1994, Selena released her fourth studio album called Amor Prohibido. And it ended up debuting at number three on the U.S. Billboard Top Latin Albums Chart. And number one on the U.S. Regional Mexican Albums Chart.
Starting point is 00:15:38 One reason I'm really appreciative of everything that's going on around me, because the fact I never expected it, And I want to keep that attitude. This album was again a huge success and was in the top five Latin albums until 1995. So needless to say, she was a huge success and she was really destined for stardom. She could have been as big as someone like Lady Gaga, you know, Madonna, something like that. In March of 1995, Selena started working on her English album and it was going to be titled Dreaming of You. And at this point she's definitely on her way to being like a big star in the United States. Some people
Starting point is 00:16:13 described her as being the new Gloria Estefan. And Selena was also looking to expand her boutiques to Mexico and he was around this point in time that Yolanda decided she wanted to live closer to Selena so she moved from San Antonio to Corbus Christi. So eventually Selena's boutique started to actually lose money and they really weren't doing well. And in addition to that, her father said that he was getting complaints from customers that were in the fan club saying that they never got like merch or anything from the fan club. And then employees
Starting point is 00:16:45 at her actual boutique location started telling him that Yolanda was actually really treating them badly. And apparently she had a history of like firing people just because she personally didn't like them. So he decided that he was going to look into you know her financial records with the boutiques and fan club. And once he started doing this, he realized there was a lot of money missing. There was over $30,000 missing. And her dad thinks that Yolanda stole it all via forged checks. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪
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Starting point is 00:17:37 Limited and Grand Cherokee L Limited. Competitive vehicles exclude all other FCA vehicles. Contact dealer for details. Take retail delivery by 531-23. Jeep is a registered trademark. At this point, a lot of people started warning Selena about Yolanda. A lot of people were worried about her
Starting point is 00:17:57 and wanted to protect Selena from her. They were just getting bad vibes. For example, one of the employees that worked at the boutiques was sent to Yolanda's house to pick up some zippers that were delivered to her house and when she got there, the place was filled with photos of Selena. Selena's company had health insurance for her employees and one of her employees named Martin went to the dentist one time and when he tried to check out, his insurance was denied and they said that it hadn't been paid yet
Starting point is 00:18:26 And when he asked Yolanda about it, she said that she would fix it but not to tell Selena So obviously he was concerned as well So a lot of people were coming to her in her life and expressing concern to her But Selena's dad was really really worried and he ended up having a meeting with Selena and Susette Who is her sister on the night of March 9th at Q Productions Records to confront Yolanda all about all the shady shit that she had been doing. During this meeting, he really pressed her about the inconsistencies with her spending
Starting point is 00:18:54 and just the financials overall and she was extremely defensive about it. What you'll learn about this woman is she was like a liar to the point where she just doesn't know what the fuck she's even saying anymore. Like she will just lily lily lily lily lily. She's so volitioned and so confident in telling her lies. Like you almost wonder if she believes them herself. And he ended up really
Starting point is 00:19:14 telling her that you know what at the end of the day if you can't provide evidence that you didn't steal this money then I'm gonna contact the police. And Yolanda really tried to blame this on the fan club members. She said that they were somehow wanting free merchandise, and that's where the 30,000 went. And it was this point that her dad realized that she had actually opened the bank account for all the businesses under her sister's name,
Starting point is 00:19:39 which was Maria Alida. And when he asked her about this, she said that she did that because the bank wasn't allowing her to open a bank account, but she didn't know why. So, Selena's dad ended up trying to ban Selena from seeing Yolanda anymore, but Selena actually wanted to continue their friendship. She thought at this point, Yolanda's extremely involved,
Starting point is 00:20:01 really knows the business and she wanted to open this, you know, other location in Mexico And she felt like she may not be able to do it without Yolanda So this woman was so manipulative like she had Selena just so manipulated so wrapped around her finger But her father wanted to fire her He definitely didn't want her in the business anymore and over time after convincing her in more strange behavior from Yolanda Selena agreed that this was probably the best thing to do. So he ended up taking her name off of everything
Starting point is 00:20:28 as far as like bank access, like she couldn't get into anything anymore. Now, this really pissed Yolanda off. She snapped at this point. She ended up going to San Antonio and buying a gun. And when she bought this gun, she told the salesperson that she was getting it because she was a home nurse and one of the families that she worked for were threatening her. So like I said, Selena was pretty much ready to fire
Starting point is 00:20:53 Yolanda and after the meeting her dot even discovered that fan club checks were signed with Maria Alita's signature which is her sister's name and hand writing that is identical to Yolanda's, so she was literally writing forged checks under her sister's name, caching them and then keeping the funds. And at one point, she had actually organized like a group gift from all of Selena's employees. Like everyone pitched in and then she took the money and went and bought a ring. It turns out that she bought this ring on the company credit card and this ring was like a little egg and It turns out Selena really really really loved this ring like it became like part of her image
Starting point is 00:21:30 She wore it all the time. She's pictured in a lot of things with it And they found out that she actually bought this ring on the company credit card and when she gave it to Selena She told her that it was a gift from just her So she basically ripped everyone off stole their their money, and then ended up using company funds to buy the ring anyway and taking full credit for it. So they're ended up being several times where we don't know for sure, but Selena's dad thinks that Yolanda tried to kill her multiple times. And the first time that he thinks she tried to do that was on March 13th when she drove
Starting point is 00:22:02 to Corpus Christi and checked into a motel. The next day, she contacted Selena and tried to arrange a time for them to meet up. And she told her that there was too much traffic, so they had to meet up 25 miles out of Corpus Christi in a random parking lot. So when they met up, Selena ended up telling her that she could continue to run the boutiques in Mexico. Her father said that she wanted to keep her around a little bit, just until she found someone else. But what's strange is during this exchange, Yolanda ended up showing Selena the gun she bought. Selena was not happy that she bought this gun
Starting point is 00:22:34 and she told her to get rid of it immediately and she kind of softened the blow with her, like made things right by telling her that she would protect her from her father because Yolanda was very afraid of her father. So because of this her father thinks that she decided not to kill her that day and in fact she ended up returning the gun. Another time at Yolanda actually went with Selena on a trip to Tennessee and she was going to be recording another one of her songs there and while they were there Selena ended up telling her that there were bank statements missing and that she needed to bring them back to her
Starting point is 00:23:07 and started kind of putting the pressure on her again. And when they got back on March 27th, she went and bought a gun again. Then she asked Selena to meet her at a motel sketch in a motel room. And she did, however, this particular time, there were a lot of fans around because somehow word got out that she was going to be there so they got mauled and again her father thinks that she was planning to kill her then but didn't because there were fans around. And then the last week of March they had a trip to Mexico and during the trip, Yolanda ended up claiming that she was attacked and assaulted, sexually assaulted and beaten
Starting point is 00:23:44 with a bat. And during this trip she ended up stealing some of was attacked and assaulted, sexually assaulted, and beaten with a bat. And during this trip, she ended up stealing some of Selena's perfume and some of her bank statements. On March 30th, Yolanda arrived back to Corpus Christi and checked in at the days in hotel. And Yolanda ended up again asking Selena to meet her there so that she could give her the bank statements. And her father thinks again this was another attempt to kill her, but couldn't because she showed up with her husband. And as they drove home she noticed that Yolanda gave them the wrong bank statements, shocker. So another time Yolanda asked her to come back to the motel
Starting point is 00:24:16 room because she was bleeding from the assault in Mexico. And she wanted Selena to take her to the hospital. And Selena was such a nice person like seriously But her husband said that it was too late that night and they met up the next day instead But by this point, Selena, you know, she really didn't believe her story about Mexico She was really just angry. I mean, she gave her the wrong bang statements after all of that She was really really done with her She decided that it was best if she cut ties with her for good and she decided she needed to do this in person.
Starting point is 00:24:47 So she went back to her motel. It was March 31st in the morning, they met up there. And when she got there, you'll want to pull the sympathy card saying, you know, telling her about her attack and she said she wanted to go to the hospital to get checked out. So Selena agreed to go with her.
Starting point is 00:25:02 And when she was at the hospital, she was given a brief physical examination, but it's not the type that they do for sexual assault. So that was strange. The doctors there decided that the bruises did not look like bruises from a bat, and they started to question her story as well. And the staff said that she was showing signs of severe depression. After the exam was finished, they drove back to the days in Motel, and it was at this time that Selena and Yolanda started getting in a very intense argument. Selena started telling her, you know, I don't want to work with you anymore. I don't want really anything to do with you, Loki. And I want my financial statements back.
Starting point is 00:25:35 It literally got to the point where people were calling and complaining to the front desk because they heard two women arguing over a business matter. they heard to women arguing over a business matter. From joyful occasions to the unexpected, first Franklin financial makes loans for living, offering fixed rates and flexible terms on loans up to $15,000. The next time you're looking for some extra cash to help make ends meet, come see the friendly Franklin folks, or visit us at 1ffc.com to learn more. All in terms of APRs depend on meeting our underwriting and income criteria and may require collateral.
Starting point is 00:26:08 First Franklin Financial Corporation is licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission CFI-215, Georgia Residential Mortgage Licency 5656, MMLS and the 14165 Fort, not available in North Carolina. So it was 11.45 AM. They're in the Olandas room by themselves. And all of a sudden, the motel door opens, and Selena was walking out
Starting point is 00:26:30 and all of a sudden a gunshot rang out. Now people that were witnesses and multiple witnesses have corroborated this, they heard her say bitch when she was shooting her. Selena was shot in the back. The bullet entered in through the back around her shoulder blade and went out through the front like right here.
Starting point is 00:26:47 And this is when she ran across the entire courtyard which was pretty far. And she's running literally bleeding out because this bullet had hit one of her arteries. So this is not a good situation. There's blood, you know, trailing behind her. People saw her running. This motel maid says she saw what happened after that.
Starting point is 00:27:06 I turn around now, sauce. Yolanda and Sulema coming out from 158. And Sulema was coming out of the room, yelling, help, help. And that's when Yolanda, you know, shot her in the back. Yolanda, mouse, your bitch, and then she turned around. She went flying into the, you know, front lobby area where she was with one of the managers who said that she just came in so flustered, so frightened, just screaming.
Starting point is 00:27:30 And I think Selena may have known that she wasn't going to make it because she just kept repeating that it was Yolanda. She said her room number, it was this room number. So it's a really, really terribly sad story because she was very, very young at this time. She was only 23. The people in the hotel tried their best they called 911 obviously. I remember working where I used to remember a television. She looked up 20. I was like, I can't see her. Where did she go? She didn't the lobby right now?
Starting point is 00:28:09 Yes, ma'am. She just passed out. I'm still there, but I don't know. I already have to call in. My phone is on. I didn't know what it is. I think I need to send a voice to the two. It'll go off from this phone.
Starting point is 00:28:21 So it's not that good for me. It's not the right thing. It's just a different cell. I already have a few things. You don't know anything else about who might have done it or anything like that. and then they also tried to help her, you know, keep pressure on it, do anything they could until the ambulance got there, but she was slowly fading. Manager said as he was talking to her, he kept telling her, you know, hang on, hang on, but eventually her eyes just kind of rolled back in her head. So they ended up looking up the room reservation under room 158, which was with the room that she said that she was shot in and it was Yolanda. The ambulance got there within two minutes of receiving the call, but by the time that they got there,
Starting point is 00:29:00 Selena wasn't conscious. And while they were rushing Selena to the hospital, Yolanda was trying to get the hell out of there. She ran all the way back to her room after chasing Selena. She wrapped a gun in a towel and hopped in her car and tried to leave. However, as she was trying to pull out, she was blocked by police cars. And once she realized that she was not going to get out of there, there was really no getting away from this. She was caught.
Starting point is 00:29:30 She put the gun to her own head. So they had to bring in like hostage negotiators and try to convince her to come out of the car. They were able to get her phone so that she could talk to them. And she was hysterical, asking about Selena, wondering what she was doing, how she was doing, and they told her that she was at the hospital. And this is when she starts coming up with her story. She decides to tell them that she was never going to kill Selena.
Starting point is 00:30:06 And this is such bullshit. Her story is basically that she was like, Selena started opening the door and Yolanda told her to shut the door and she kind of went like this, like a hand motion, but was holding the gun at the same time and just happened to fire the trigger as she was doing this, which we all know is bullshit. What happened that morning when Selena arrived? Did she say she wanted to fire the trigger as she was doing this, which we all knows bullshit. What happened that morning when Selena arrived?
Starting point is 00:30:27 Did she say she wanted to fire you? That I've never, never, she never told me that. I was telling her to leave. And I said, I, it's over Selena, it's over. I can't work for you anymore. I can't work for you anymore. She, went down, she grabbed my feet and told me not to leave her. And I picked her up and I told her, just leave.
Starting point is 00:30:53 And I said, if you don't leave, I'm going to do it to Lena. And she got up and she says, Mom, we need to talk about this. We need to talk about this. I'm going to close the door. And when she was walking to the door, she was growing at an angle. And I told her, don't close the door. And in that instant, the gun went off. But why didn't it hit you?
Starting point is 00:31:19 Because I was pointing to the door. And it just went. And it's crazy. But the standoff between her and the police lasted about 10 hours. And by this time, literally hundreds of fans started gathering around the area watching this go down.
Starting point is 00:31:32 Word got out that Selena had been shot. Hundreds of fans gathered near the motel parking lot, witnessing a bizarre standoff between police swap teams and Yolanda sitting in a truck for nearly 10 hours she held a gun to her head. You're looking at a wide range of people. a bizarre standoff between police swap teams and Yolanda sitting in
Starting point is 00:31:45 a truck for nearly 10 hours. She held a gun to her head. You're looking at a live picture right now coming to you from navigation where the standoff continues. At least they CPR began immediately, but Selena was in critical condition
Starting point is 00:31:58 when she left the scene in an ambulance. Finally, after 10 hours, they were able to convince Yolanda to come out of the car and they placed her under arrest. Ruster and Grabber. They rushed in the front of the white pickup Grabber. She's on the ground. Standoff ended after 10 hours of
Starting point is 00:32:12 very intense negotiations. The suspect, Yolanda Salivar, came out of the truck. The police officers used the door to bump her. They pushed her down to the ground. They jumped on top of her and restrained her. She did not have a weapon at that time,
Starting point is 00:32:28 which is how they were able to do that. We were watching it from across the street. We also had a lot of information from one of the guests that was inside the hotel who described everything play by play. He said the chief was extremely emotionally fatigued. And when I asked the assistant's police chief why, what it was that actually helped get her out in the end, he said she just plain got tired. She will be placed up for the time being in administrative segregation. And as a matter of fact, here she comes now. There she is already in her prison lights,
Starting point is 00:33:01 again surrounded by corrections officers and West's county sheriff, JP Luby with her. She is shackled her hands and her feet are shackled. She is still wearing the West's county uniform. She will be showered inside and given the Texas Department of Corrections uniform to wear. She has since pleaded not guilty to murder.
Starting point is 00:33:25 Her lawyer declined comment on both the murder charges and the allegations of financial misconduct. When you heard Selena have been shot, what occurred to you? I know it was heranda. Instantly, she wanted to get back at Selena and she figured, hey, I did all this for you. If I can't have you, no one else can, and she killed her. From joyful occasions to the unexpected, first Franklin financial makes loans for living,
Starting point is 00:33:56 offering fixed rates and flexible terms on loans up to $15,000. The next time you're looking for some extra cash to help make ends meet, come see the friendly Franklin folks or visit us at 1ffc.com to learn more. All in terms of APRs depend on meeting our underwriting and income criteria and may require collateral. First Franklin Financial Corporation is licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission CFI-215, Georgia Residential Mortgage Licency 5656, MMLS-NB141654, not available in North Carolina.
Starting point is 00:34:25 Now Selena sadly was actually dead on arrival at the hospital. However doctors really wanted to do everything they could to save her, so they attempted to revive her and perform surgery on her, but she had lost too much blood. It was just too late. After Yolanda came out of the car, she was notified that Selena had passed away. The media jumped on this, of course, and it really wasn't long until it was everywhere.
Starting point is 00:34:48 Grammy award winning music star Selena has been shot and killed in Texas. The purpose Christie's Selena say how no music star Selena did at the age of 23. The suspect in the shooting has been holding police at bay for
Starting point is 00:35:01 hours. One of the biggest stars into how no music she was shot twice in the back. The accused murderer is Yolanda Salivar, a friend and founder of Selena's fan club. Salivar had been accused of embezzling funds. Selena apparently went to the hotel to fire her. Never in the history of Corpus Christi has someone's death had this much impact. Friday, March 31st, 1995. On April 1st, there was a vigil held for her
Starting point is 00:35:28 at the Bayfront Plaza in Corpus Christi, and 3,000 fans showed up to grieve the loss. And during the event, they announced that there would be a public viewing of the casket. It would be held at the Bayfront Auditorium the following day, and fans lined up for almost a mile, about 30,000 to 40,000 fans passed by Selena's casket and on April 3rd 1995 her funeral was held and there were 600 guests
Starting point is 00:35:52 there who were mostly family members. Her burial was held at the seaside Memorial Park in Corpus Christi, Texas. I didn't think I was gonna make it through that, you know, I just wanted to wake her up. I could see her like when she'd be asleep, you know, and she'd be like that, and she looked beautiful even like that. She was always giving people the benefit of the doubt, and the look when it got her.
Starting point is 00:36:33 In issue of people magazine was released several days after she was killed and within a week they released a commemorative issue and it sold nearly a million copies. So obviously people and slainist fans were pissed at this Yolanda woman. People were outraged, absolutely heartbroken that this young talent was taken from them so young. And so her trial became a big public spectacle, especially for the Latino community. The trial itself was not televised, but they did have cameras like on the court premises. On April 3rd, she was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to Selena's murder. Yep, you heard that right folks, not guilty. Her bail was set at $100,000 and eventually it was changed
Starting point is 00:37:09 to $500,000. During the pre-trial, her lawyers decided that she, and this is fair enough, she wouldn't have a fair trial in Selena's hometown, because it's too sensitive and everyone knew about it. And after several months of deliberating on this, they ended up agreeing to move the trial to Houston, Texas. The trial began on October 11th, and of course the defense went with the whole story that this was an accident accidentally fired at Selena, which just made no sense. So,
Starting point is 00:37:35 obviously, that wasn't being bought. One big thing that the prosecution pointed out is that her behavior after shooting someone is weird. Like, think about it. If you accidentally shot someone, you wouldn't chase after them, calling them a bitch. You would be yourself dialing 911. You would be trying to help if you accidentally shot someone. So that was a big reason for her guilt. Not to mention that she was a registered nurse,
Starting point is 00:37:59 so she should have been doing everything that she could to help until the police arrived. Her going back to her apartment, getting her car and trying to leave with the gun really didn't look good. And like I said earlier, the chances of that gun going off on accident are very, very slim. In fact, you'd have to put 11 pounds of pressure on this trigger to pull it.
Starting point is 00:38:17 And this led the prosecutors to conclude that the gun really couldn't have gone off unless someone purposely pulled the trigger. So Yalanda was held at the county jail and the judge ended up making it so that the jury only had the option of convicting her on first-degree murder. They couldn't do a lesser charge such as manslaughter or negligent homicide. In October 23rd 1995, the jury only deliberated for about two hours before they came back with their verdict. Fayo, Iculminar el proceso. We the jury find the defendant you'll on the five minute. Yolanda Salvívar, fue a ya da culpable, y condenada a cadena perpetua por el asesinato de Selena Quintanilla.
Starting point is 00:38:54 La joven mujer que se había atrevido y logrado dar una identidad real a la música de X-Mex. The jury found her guilty of first degree murder and she ascended to life in prison, but with the possibility of parole after 30 years. I doubt it though. She is currently serving her life sentence at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville
Starting point is 00:39:14 and she will become eligible for parole on March 30th of 2025. Now the majority of the public was very, very happy that she was, you know, found guilty and was getting the life sentence. Literally, people had like celebrations and festivals in Texas and California, even Mexico. When this happened, fans literally cheered outside, had music playing, where blasting Selena's music, people were literally cheering in her face as they drove Yolanda off to prison. la gente que se ha llegado a la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la gente de la goberraron de Texas, destacó su importancia durante la entrega de los
Starting point is 00:40:10 tecanos music awards de 1996. Selena era de las mejores artistas de Texas, cuando murió los sentimos muy profundo en And we are very deep in the West with Corazones. We are still waiting for them, but they have no music to carry on in Salinas Legacy. Weeks after her death, you could tell the impact. People were painting her face on cars, hanging posters outside of their houses. People left balloons, flowers, and pictures, and poems at all of her boutiques.
Starting point is 00:40:43 There were street murals of her found across Texas and in the months following her death an average of 12,000 people visited her grave site and the days in motel where the shooting occurred. And the motel manager ended up rearranging the room numbers so guests would not know which room that she had been shot in specifically. Although people have definitely tried to stay in that room. In 1997, she was commemorated with a museum and life-size bronze statue in Corpus Christi. And after she passed her record label, you know, they had like some of her English album Dreaming of You done. They had like four songs, so they didn't know what to do with them, so they went ahead and just released those four songs on an album called Dreaming of You.
Starting point is 00:41:21 And this record was an immediate success. It was released in July of 1995, and on the of its release 175,000 copies were sold in the US and this was actually a record for a female vocalist. Selena made a huge impact on the music industry and she really paved the way for a lot of R-stars today to get to where they are. She was extremely talented and had a truly, truly special voice. We lost her way too young. And not only that, it just sucks because she was such a good person. Like, how far things got with Yolanda just shows what a trusting and kind nice person Selena really was, that she was nice to everyone. She didn't judge, I mean, who's this little woman? Selena treated her with so much respect and treated her as a friend, and sadly got taken
Starting point is 00:42:06 advantage of because of this. She is definitely going to be remembered as a kind and compassionate person who was incredibly talented, and she's remembered as someone who was also very caring. Listen to all of the work that she was involved in when it came to cherry. During her childhood, she worked with organizations such as Toys for Tots. She often visited local schools to talk to students about the importance of education. She encouraged children to stay in school and that alcohol and drugs would leave them nowhere in life. She spent her free time helping the community and after her cane-and-drawer in 1992, she helped victims in Florida
Starting point is 00:42:37 by performing at a Houston benefit concert. In 1994, she hosted a charity baseball game to raise money for various charities and she even donated time to organizations such as Dare and planned a fundraising concert to help AIDS patients. And there was a ton of other things that she did, so a needless to say she really really gave back and was the real deal. In 2017 she received her star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame and two years after her death there was a movie that some of you may have seen called Selena and it was supposed to be the true story of Selena's life and legacy, and it was starring
Starting point is 00:43:07 Jennifer Lopez, and it was produced by her family and Warner Bros. It was a huge success, and it's often considered to be what got Jennifer Lopez started in her career. Then you may remember, in October of 2016, Matt Cosmetics released a limited edition Selena Make-A-Blind, and it actually became their best-selling celebrity line in cosmetic history. And in the future you may even see a new television series that is based on Selena's life called Selena and it's scheduled to air on Netflix in 2020. So as you can see her impact is still here today, but it's just the most frustrating story because it was so unnecessary. Like obviously something is not right with Yolanda. She's messed up
Starting point is 00:43:45 and the fact that she had to get involved with her and just ruin her career and her life is just so awful. The more I learned about Selena, the more I really like her music and I really just like her as a person. Like she just seemed like such a fantastic human. So this was definitely a hard one to do. But I hope you found this interesting. If you want more celebrity cases, definitely let me know by hitting the thumbs up on this video and don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any other of my videos. And that's it for me today guys.
Starting point is 00:44:13 I will talk to you next time. Bye. There was a period of time, right after everything that I had to learn to live again. We'll love out ahead your heart learn to live again. You know. I'm willing to have you all to keep forever. I ain't afraid how it is. Have a dream. Don't let him be taken away.
Starting point is 00:44:41 And you always believe that the impossible is always possible. When you're gone, how do you want to be remembered? Not only as an entertainer, but as a person who cares a lot, and I gave the best that I could, and I tried to be the best role model that I possibly could, and if the best there's more I could, I tried to help them. That is going to be it for me today guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me
Starting point is 00:45:15 out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Ray. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there. From joyful occasions to the unexpected, first Franklin financial makes loans for living, offering fixed rates and flexible terms on loans up to $15,000. The next time you're looking for some extra cash to help make ends meet, come see the Friendly Franklin folks, or visit us at 1ffc.com to learn more. All in terms of APRs depend on meeting or underwriting an income criteria and may require collateral.
Starting point is 00:45:57 First Franklin Financial Corporation is licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission CFI-215, Georgia Residential Mortgage Licency 5656, MMLS-NB141654, not available in North Carolina. from Joyful Occasions to the unexpected. First Franklin Financial makes loans for living, offering fixed rates and flexible terms on loans up to $15,000. The next time you're looking for some extra cash to help make ends meet, come see the friendly Franklin folks, or visit us at 1FFFC.com to learn more. All loan terms and APRs depend on meeting
Starting point is 00:46:18 are underwriting an income criteria and may require collateral for a first Franklin Financial Corporation as a license by the Virginia State Corporation. The next time you're looking for some extra cash to help make ends meet, come see the friendly Franklin folks, or visit us at 1ffc.com to learn more. All in terms of APRs depend on meeting our underwriting and income criteria and may require collateral. First rank in financial corporation is licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission CFI-215, Georgia Residential Mortgage Licency 5656, MMLS, and the 141654, not available in North Carolina.

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