Where is Selena's killer Yolanda Saldivar 26 years after beloved singer's death?

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Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Reasons we still love Selena
Selena's legacy lives on with her fans.

While fans remember the legacy of Selena, questions also still surround the woman who killed her.

On March 31, 1995, Selena Quintanilla was shot to death in Corpus Christi by the founder of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar. Selena was only 23 years old.

Prosecutors say Selena, affectionately known as the undisputed Queen of Tejano by her fan base, had confronted Saldivar about embezzlement allegations.

Saldivar has said the shooting was an accident.

Saldivar, whose trial was moved to Houston due to extensive publicity about the case, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

But what has happened to Saldivar in between the singer's death and now?

In June 2009, Saldivar lost an appeal because it was filed in the wrong county. According to Billboard, Saldivar had asked for an appeal filed nine years earlier in Nueces County to move forward, but it should have been filed in Harris County where she was convicted.

In early 2010, an appeals court in Austin denied a petition challenging Saldivar's conviction.

Since then, rumors and internet hoaxes have sprung up, alleging that Saldivar is dead.

Billboard reported in 2015 that an article from a conspiracy site stated Saldivar was found dead by deputies in her prison cell. But the rumor was quickly debunked.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice told San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT that it was all false.

Saldivar remains in the Mountain View Unit, a maximum-security women's prison in Gatesville, Texas, about 130 miles southwest of Dallas, corrections officials told ABC News.

The prison houses Texas' female death row and other high-profile inmates, including Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer convicted of killing her neighbor Botham Jean after she said she had mistaken his apartment for her own.

Saldivar will be eligible for parole in 2025, 30 years after Selena's death.

The video above is from a previous story.

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