Selena Quintanilla’s dad slams Oxygen doc featuring his daughter’s killer: ‘Nothing but lies’
The father of Selena Quintanilla, who was brutally murdered in 1995, has lashed out against a new Oxygen documentary featuring her convicted killer, Yolanda Saldívar.
The Texas-born Selena, a Grammy-winning singing sensation known as the “Queen of Tejano Music,” was only 23 when she was shot to death by Saldívar, her confidant, agent and president of her fan club, in a hotel room in Corpus Christi, Texas, in March 1995.
The two-part docuseries, “Selena and Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them,” premieres Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. on Oxygen, which is devoted to true-crime programming.
Selena’s father, Abraham Quintanilla, was interviewed by TMZ about the documentary — which he called “nothing but lies” — and added that the family was not involved, according to the Daily Mail.
Abraham told TMZ that he “wants absolutely nothing to do with Yolanda since “everything she says is nothing but lies.”
“No one’s gonna believe what she has to say anyway,” he told TMZ. “Everyone knows there’s zero truth to anything that comes out of her mouth.”
Selena was an established star — with several big hits and a chain of boutiques selling her showy trademark costumes — when Saldívar, a Selena superfan, entered her orbit.
Selena hired Saldívar, who was working as an in-home nurse in San Antonio, Texas, and Saldívar ingratiated herself into Selena’s life, cited prosecutors at her trial, according to the Daily Mail.
She became a close Selena confidant — trusted enough to have a key to the home Selena shared with her husband, Chris Pérez, and then became president of the Selena fan club.
Eventually, Saldívar was promoted to manage two of Selena’s stores, one in Corpus Christi, the other in San Antonio, so she had control over Selena’s business checking accounts.
Selena even made Saldívar her agent in 1994.
Some in Selena’s inner circle became suspicious of Saldívar’s motives, but Selena remained loyal to her, according to the Daily Mail report.
Their relationship hit the skids when Saldívar was allegedly caught embezzling $30,000 — after fans complained they had paid their fan club membership fees but never received merchandise that was promised to them.
Selena reportedly fired Saldívar over the phone — but Saldívar begged her to meet in a Days Inn in Corpus Christi so she could explain herself, insisting she had bank statements to prove her innocence.
When they met inside the hotel room, Selena demanded to see the financial papers Saldívar said she brought, but instead, Saldívar shot Selena with a .38-caliber revolver she took from her purse.
The bullet shattered an artery in Selena’s collarbone before it exited her chest.
Selena was able to stagger down to the hotel lobby, leaving a nearly 400-foot trail of blood, and tell the staff what happened before she collapsed and later died at Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital.
Saldívar attempted to flee the scene in her pickup truck but was spotted by a responding police cruiser. She surrendered after a 9 1/2-hour standoff with local police and the FBI.
Saldívar, who maintained she shot Selena by accident, was found guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison in Texas, with the possibility of parole after 30 years . . . in 2025.
In a trailer for “Selena and Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them,” Saldívar says that, “After so many years, I think it’s time to set the story straight. My family gathered the evidence and it showed different versions of what was going on.”
“I was scared, I was frightened,” she added. “I knew her secrets, and I think people deserve to know the truth.”
The Post reached out to Oxygen for comment.
