Selena Quintanilla's Killer Yolanda Saldívar Claims She Never Intended to 'Harm' Singer: 'I Am So Sorry She's Gone'
Yolanda Saldívar is speaking out from behind bars as she serves out a life sentence for killing Queen of Tejano Music Selena Quintanilla — famously known simply as Selena — in 1995.
Nearly 30 years after Selena's tragic death, Yolanda got the chance to tell her side of the story in Oxygen's docuseries Selena & Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them, which premiered on Saturday, February 17.
The 63-year-old shot and killed Selena at a hotel in Corpus Christi, Tex., when the "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" singer was only 23 years old. At the time, Yolanda had been accused of embezzling money from the award-winning artist's clothing boutique, as well as fan club funds. However, Yolanda has maintained that she never intended to hurt Selena.
"I was convicted by public opinion even before my trial started," she said in a clip of the highly anticipated documentary. "They have been fed a narrative that is not correct, that I was an embezzler, that I was an assistant. My right as a citizen of the United States to be innocent until proven guilty was reversed on me. I was guilty and needed to prove my innocence."
"They've never proven me that I stole a single cent from her. If I was an embezzler like [Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla] claimed, why didn't he ever press charges on me?" she said. "He didn't because he never had that evidence."
Following the allegations against her, Yolanda allegedly became worried for her safety and bought a gun in case she needed it for her own protection.
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"I didn't feel safe. It was my own self-defense that if anything came my way, I was going to protect myself. I was fearful," she explained. "At no point did I mean to hurt anyone."
"I did not know when my gun went off. I did not know that it hit her because I thought that she just ran," she continued. "It scared me, it scared her. All I can say is that there was never, ever any intention to do her any harm."
"I know that people were hurting, I know. And I know that they loved her, no doubt. And I know that the people till this day still hurt for her," Yolanda added. "I do, too."
She also shared that her family has been "devastated" about the situation from the very beginning.
"My sister, my brothers, and my parents said, 'We're going to vow to tell the truth, but you have to tell us the whole truth, no matter who it hurts. We have to get justice for you. We cannot let lies and untruths stand,'" she added.
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"I am so sorry she's gone," Yolanda noted. "I'm so sorry that all her family is hurting and I'm so sorry my family is hurt."