1995 SPECIAL REPORT: "THE MURDER OF SELENA"

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995) was an American singer who achieved international fame as a member of Selena y Los Dinos and for her subsequent solo career. Her father and manager, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., appointed Yolanda Saldívar president of Selena’s fan club in 1991 after Saldívar had repeatedly asked permission to start one. In January 1994, Saldívar was promoted to manager of the singer’s boutiques. Selena’s employees, fashion designer, and cousin began complaining about Saldívar’s management style. In January 1995, Quintanilla, Jr. began receiving telephone calls and letters from angry fans who had sent membership payments and had received nothing in return. He began investigating their complaints and found evidence that Saldívar had embezzled $60,000 from the fan club and the boutiques using forged checks. After the Quintanilla family confronted her, Saldívar bought a gun, lured Selena to a motel room, and shot her in the back. Although doctors tried to revive Selena, she was pronounced dead from loss of blood and cardiac arrest.

The Latino community was deeply affected by the news of Selena’s death; some people traveled thousands of miles to visit her house, boutiques, and the crime scene, while churches with large congregations of Latinos held prayers in her name. All major television networks in the United States interrupted their regular programming to break the news. The public’s reaction to Selena’s death was compared to those that followed the deaths of John Lennon, Elvis Presley, and John F. Kennedy. Some Americans who were unaware of the singer and her popularity criticized the attention she and her murder received from both the media and the Latino community. Radio personality Howard Stern mocked Selena’s murder, burial, and her mourners and criticized her music, playing her songs with gunshots in the background, causing an uproar among the Latino population. On April 12, 1995—two weeks after her death—then-Texas governor George W. Bush declared her birthday Selena Day in Texas. Some Americans were offended because Selena Day that year coincided with Easter.

At the time of Selena’s death, Tejano music was one of the most popular Latin music subgenres in the United States. She was called the “Queen of Tejano music” and became the first Latino artist to have a predominantly Spanish-language album—Dreaming of You (1995)—debut and peak at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. After her death, the popularity of Tejano music waned. During Saldívar’s trial for the murder—called the “trial of the century” and the most important trial for the Latino population—she said she accidentally shot Selena while attempting suicide. Saldívar was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Jennifer Lopez was cast as Selena in a 1997 biopic film about her life and became famous after the film’s release. Spanish-language networks in the U.S. often broadcast documentaries about Selena on the anniversary of her death; they are among the most-watched programs in the history of American television and often score high ratings.

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