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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The woman convicted of killing Tejano music legend Selena Quintanilla-Pérez has been denied parole after spending decades behind bars for fatally shooting the young singer at a Texas motel in 1995, the state’s parole board announced Thursday. Yolanda Saldívar , 64, is serving a life sentence at the Patrick L. O’Daniel prison unit in Gatesville, Texas.
A three-member panel of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted to not release her. The panel said her case will be eligible to be reviewed again for parole in 2030. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed the Gatesville Board made the decision.
The board is part of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Marsha Moberly is the chair of the Gatesville Board, and online records show she has more than 25 years of criminal justice experience. The board also includes Lee Anne Eck-Massingill and Roel Tejada, both of whom have decades of experience and degrees in the criminal justice field.
KHOU 11 legal analyst Carmen Roe said whether Saldívar is granted parole rests solely on those three people – and the majority rules. “Although three members are asked to participate, the first two, if they agree to deny or to grant parole, the third would break that tie. Otherwise, they wouldn’t vote at all,” Roe said.
But Roe added that the vote is not done publicly. “We don’t know much about how this occurs, except that it occurs in the quiet of someone’s office, likely. These decisions will be issued in writing and sent out once the vote is complete,” Roe said.
The denial was expected, according to legal experts. “In all my years of doing parole hearings, particularly on homicide cases, it’s extremely rare for an offender to get out on their first review,” said Andy Kahan, with Crime Stoppers of Houston. A Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles Officer interviewed Saldívar as part of the parole request process.
They likely also heard testimony from family members, but those records will be kept confidential. Her case will come under review again in March 2030. While in prison, Saldívar — a former nurse — obtained her paralegal and associate degree in criminal justice and has filed several civil rights complaints alleging mistreatment by the state’s prison system, according to court records.
She also helped other inmates to file petitions. In court documents filed in 2016, Saldívar said she was being held in protective custody — meaning she was segregated from other inmates — because prison officials were concerned for her safety due to the “high profile” nature of her case. She filed several appeals of her conviction but all were rejected.
How the parole process works According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, a parole officer will present a case study to the parole board, including letters of support or protest and interviews with Saldivar. The parole division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice identifies inmates six months before the date of their initial parole eligibility and pulls their case file for review. The notice of eligibility for parole is also sent to the victim’s family members.
Roe said an interview is conducted by an officer with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and a summary is then given to the board. “Yolanda Saldivar will be interviewed by a parole officer or more than one parole officer, and if she has an attorney or is so inclined, she can bring people forward to talk about the changes she’s made since this offense occurred 30 years ago and her progress in prison,” Roe said. The victim’s family can send the board a statement or appear in person in front of the board.
Andy Kahan, Crime Stoppers of Houston’s Director of Victim Services, said what could be really important is if Selena’s family speaks in-person in front of the board. “What I tell victim’s families and surviving family members of homicide, why it’s so important if you can, to meet with the board in-person prior to a vote, is you need to let the parole board know who your loved one is. You need to bring them back to life.
What that loss meant to your family. How all the years have gone by, and you still can’t forget what happened, and why you want that person to remain in custody,” Kahan said. Once all statements are given, the inmate’s file is sent to the parole board and voted on by a three-person panel – in this case, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said that would be the three members of the Gatesville Board.
The Associated Press contributed to this report..
