Selena tribute artist target of cyber-bullying in Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Amanda Solis works full time as a nurse and tends to her uncle and grandfather at the home she shares with her husband. It's a lot of responsibility, but she has another life during her spare time.

Solis is a Selena tribute artist, much like those that portray Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. Solis has been a Selena fan since she was a kid.

"It's because I looked up to her. She inspired me," she said.

She sings songs from Selena's repertoire, wearing Selena-style costumes, performing at special events and parties. She said she especially enjoys performing for children.

On Solis' Instagram is a picture she posted, posing with a young special needs fan.

"She handed me all her Selena CD's and asked me to autograph them," Solis said. "It was such a sweet moment. But I'm not Selena. I signed them with my real name, Amanda Solis." She included that information in a picture caption.

Earlier this month, Selena's father posted the picture on Facebook, and wrote, "this woman Amanda Solis autographing Selena's C D's, taking Selena's accomplishments as if they were her own, and she needs to know it's not OK."

Last week, Selena's brother, A.B. Quintanilla, went on Facebook Live criticizing Solis, saying, "when you signed Selena's CD's, you passed the line."

The late queen of Tejano has a global following, years after her tragic death. Solis is hearing from a lot of them, and not only in a good way.

She said she's gotten hundreds of negative comments. Some say, "hang up the bustier." Another reads, 'why don't you just kill yourself?"

"I swear it's non-stop, and it feels like needles," she said. "And some of that is coming from 12-year-old kids."

The Facebook Live post was later taken down, but Solis says the fan cyber-bullying continues. Most might consider closing their social media accounts, but Solis refuses.

"If I do that, I let them win," she said.

But she said it still hurts. "It's not right because I don't want to be bullied because it brings back those memories of when I was bullied in school."

She said she won't stop performing either, despite the online harassment, which she said also included some threats. She did however file a police report to document the harrassing comments.

"All I want is to promote a culture of positivity and love that I would want everyone else to have," Solis said, as her phone continued to send notifications from her social accounts. "To go through this now is gut-wrenching."

Her manager, Jessica Martinez, represents music artists, and is concerned about what Solis is confronting on social media.

"I think for us it's more extreme because people are getting bullied and hurt in the process, and for us this is new," Martinez said.

We reached out for comment from Selena's father and brother, but have not received a response.