Yolanda Saldívar, the killer of beloved Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, is "despised" and "has a bounty on her head" at the Mountain View Unit, a maximum-security women's prison in Gatesville, Texas.
That's according to former inmates and family members who spoke with The Messenger.
"Everyone wants to get her. She's the most hated person at Mountain View," a former inmate told the outlet.
"She [Saldívar] says she doesn't feel safe in prison, which is why she wants to get out," a relative added.
Former former inmate Yesenia Dominguez described how Saldívar is kept in protective custody and, although she is rarely seen, is a common subject of discussion.
"Everyone was always like, Let me have five minutes with that b----," said Dominguez. "Everyone wanted to get justice for Selena."
Selena confronted Saldívar, who was a founder of her fan club and manager of her boutiques, on March 31, 1995, because Saldívar was suspected of embezzling money.
During their encounter at a Corpus Christi hotel, Saldívar shot Selena, 23, in the back. During the trial, Saldívar's lawyers argued that the shooting was unintentional and that her intended target was herself, not the singer.
The jury disagreed with the claim and found Saldívar guilty of first-degree murder.
Selena's death sparked outrage among fans.
In 2018, Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla, told Univision's Primer Impacto that other inmates had been threatening Saldívar's life.
"To this day, we still receive letters from women who are in the same prison where they say they are waiting for her," he said at the time, according to The Messenger.
"That they are going to kill her. There are bad women in there. Women who have murdered other people in the past. That is why they are in there. They have nothing to lose."
A former guard at Mountain View said that while there had been several frightening incidents, Saldívar has never been in grave danger.
"We kept the other inmates away from her," the former guard said. "But there were credible threats sometimes. But our job is to keep her safe, no matter how many people hate her."
It has now come to light that Saldívar intends to use her concerns for safety as one of the reasons for her potential release during her parole hearing in 18 months.
"She thinks it's time," Saldívar's relative previously said. "She's been in jail for almost 30 years."
But Dominguez expressed little sympathy while speaking with The Messenger.
"She can cry all she wants about feeling like she's in danger," she said. "But at least she's alive to complain about it. And Selena is still dead."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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