--- ---  # Decades After Selena's Death, Case Continues to Make News by [Jennifer Latson](https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Mar 31, 2015 2:30 PM UTC  Selena performing in concert one month before she was killed, in February of 1995 Selena performing in concert one month before she was killed, in February of 1995Arlene Richie/Media Sources—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images by [Jennifer Latson](https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Mar 31, 2015 2:30 PM UTC Selena, the one-named Tejano star, was sometimes called the Mexican-American Madonna, after that other one-named pop superstar. After winning the Tejano Music Award for best female vocalist as a teenager, Selena went on to earn the title nine more times — including two posthumous wins following her murder at age 23. Her death, 20 years ago today, on March 31, 1995, rocked the Latin music community and devastated millions of fans. The Grammy-winning performer was a fashion icon and a role model for many young women. As [TIME described her shortly after her death](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,982800,00.html), “\[s\]he was the embodiment of young, smart, hip, Mexican-American youth, wearing midriff-baring bustiers and boasting of a tight-knit family and a down-to-earth personality — a Madonna without the controversy.” When she died, she had just recorded her first album in English and, [per CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fans-family-remember-selena/), “was poised to become a crossover success when her death turned her into a legend.” Her death was even more shocking because it came at the hands of a woman once considered one of Selena’s biggest fans: Yolanda Saldivar, who had founded Selena’s fan club in San Antonio. Saldivar had also been hired to manage Selena’s clothing boutique, Selena Etc., but was fired a few weeks before the shooting when Selena’s family discovered that she had been embezzling money, Selena’s father [told the New York _Times_ in 1995](http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/01/obituaries/grammy-winning-singer-selena-killed-in-shooting-at-texas-motel.html)_._ Selena demanded that Saldivar return some of the boutique’s financial documents, and they agreed to meet at a Days Inn motel in Selena’s hometown of Corpus Christi. But Saldivar refused to turn over the documents, shot the singer and then fended off police during a nine-hour standoff while she sat in a pickup truck in the motel parking lot, holding a gun to her own head. While Selena has retained her fan base and even attracted a new generation of fans following her death, Saldivar remains in prison, where she is serving a life sentence for the murder. (She will be eligible for parole in 2025.) She has filed [a string of unsuccessful appeals](http://www.caller.com/entertainment/selena/court-appeal-selenas-killer-wrong-court), arguing, among other things, that prosecutors coerced her confession and that she received ineffective legal counsel. She may be better off in prison, however, given the fury of Selena devotees. In 2012, Saldivar’s brother [told TMZ](http://www.tmz.com/2012/07/28/selena-real-life-killer-yolanda-salivar-lupe-antiveros/) that she was still being held in solitary confinement for her own safety. Selena’s father recently told a [Corpus Christi TV news reporter](http://www.sacurrent.com/Blogs/archives/2014/12/09/selenas-killer-yolanda-saldivar-wont-be-released-but-it-is-not-for-a) that he thought an early release would be a harsher punishment than life in prison. “Not very many people like her,” he said. **_Read TIME’s original coverage of Selena’s death, here in the TIME Vault_**: [Death of a Rising Star](http://time.com/vault/issue/1995-04-10/page/107/) ### Artists Who Have Never Won A Grammy  Queen John Rodgers—Redferns/Getty Images  Jackson 5 Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  Spice Girls Ray Burmiston—Photoshot/Getty Images  GLENDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 01: Recording artist Katy Perry performs onstage during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage) Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Björk Mark Horton—WireImage/Getty Images  Diana Ross performs in Dublin. ShowBizIreland/Getty Images  Nicki Minaj Denise Truscello—WireImage/Getty Images  Janis Joplin Evening Standard/Getty Images  Patti Smith Dick Barnatt—Redferns/Getty Images  Snoop Dogg Gabriel Olsen—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Jimi Hendrix David Redfern—Redferns/Getty Images  The Who The Visualeyes Archive/Redferns/Getty Images  The Doors Gunter Zint—Redferns/Getty Images  Led Zeppelin Chris Walter—WireImage/Getty Images  Public Enemy David Corio—Redferns/Getty Images  Journey Michael Putland—Getty Images  Kiss Michael Putland—Getty Images  Run-D.M.C. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  Ramones Roberta Bayley—Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images  Brian McKnight KMazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Nas Merrick Ales—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Iggy Pop Frans Schellekens—Redferns/Getty Images  Kid Rock Scott Legato—Getty Images Selena Killed by Fan Club Founder: Revisiting the Case 20 Years Later ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3757914/selena-killed-anniversary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3757914/selena-killed-anniversary/"},"headline":"Decades After Selena's Death, Case Continues to Make News","datePublished":"2015-03-31T14:30:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:53.003Z","description":"March 31, 1995: The singer Selena is shot to death","url":"https://time.com/3757914/selena-killed-anniversary/","keywords":["Crime","Music","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2c6214b3504a42c/698785292dce014f6b9de320/selena.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Latson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2c6214b3504a42c/698785292dce014f6b9de320/selena.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Selena","caption":"Selena","creditText":"Arlene Richie/Media Sources—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3757914/selena-killed-anniversary/","name":"Decades After Selena's Death, Case Continues to Make News"}}]}] ```