Selena Murdered at 23: Tejano's Brightest Star

Yolanda Saldivar pulled the trigger in a Days Inn parking lot, and Tejano music lost its brightest star. On March 31, 1995, Selena Quintanilla-Perez was shot by the former president of her fan club in Corpus Christi, Texas. She was 23 years old, on the verge of a crossover into English-language pop music, and already the best-selling female Tejano artist in history. She died at a hospital less than an hour later from a single gunshot wound to the back. Selena had been performing since she was nine, singing in her family's band at restaurants, weddings, and quinceañeras across South Texas. Her father, Abraham Quintanilla, had managed her career from the beginning, and by her late teens she was filling arenas and winning Tejano Music Awards. Her 1994 album "Amor Prohibido" sold over 400,000 copies and crossed over into mainstream Latin music charts. She was recording her first English-language album when she was killed. Saldivar had been managing Selena's boutiques and fan club but had been embezzling money for months. When confronted with the evidence at a meeting in the Days Inn, Saldivar shot Selena as the singer turned to leave the room. Selena ran to the hotel lobby, named her attacker, and collapsed. Saldivar barricaded herself in a pickup truck in the parking lot for nine hours before surrendering to police. Selena's death prompted an outpouring of grief that transcended the Tejano community. Her posthumous English crossover album, "Dreaming of You," debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making her the first Latin artist to achieve that distinction. The 1997 biopic starring Jennifer Lopez introduced Selena to a new generation, and her music continues to sell millions of copies. George W. Bush, then governor of Texas, declared April 16 "Selena Day" in the state.