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Case file s341 · Music and sport · 1995
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1995
Selena: Selena Quintanilla 1986
Selena. Ramon Hernandez. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
31 March 1995
Place
Corpus Christi, Texas · United States
Field
Tejano music · Music on the timeline
Legal tradition
US common law (Texas) · Common law
Historical event
Crossover of Tejano music into the US mainstream
Music and sportMurder and sudden deathPostwarNorth AmericaUnited States

Selena was shot by her fan club president; her father later sued her widower to stop a TV show about her

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, 23, was shot at a Corpus Christi motel by Yolanda Saldívar, the founder of her fan club. Saldívar was convicted of murder on 23 October 1995 and sentenced to 30 years to life. After the killing, Selena's widower, guitarist Chris Pérez, and her family signed a 1995 estate agreement. It gave the estate, run by her father Abraham Quintanilla, control of her name and image. Pérez later wrote a memoir, "To Selena, With Love." In 2016 Abraham sued Pérez and producer Endemol Shine to stop a TV series based on the book. He argued that only the estate could authorize a work about her life. Pérez countersued in 2017, saying he had signed while grieving. A Texas judge let the case proceed and ordered Pérez to pay Abraham's legal fees. On 14 September 2021 both men announced that they had settled; the case was dismissed with prejudice. The series was dropped. On 27 March 2025 the Texas parole board denied Saldívar parole. Her next review is March 2030.

What the law took from it

A spouse who signs away publicity rights in the weeks after a death can lose control of his own life story.

Sources
  1. ksat.comPress
  2. abc7.comPress
  3. NBC NewsPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Selena was shot by her fan club president; her father later sued her widower to stop a TV show about her,” story s341, https://www.celebrity.estate/selena-1995, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Music and sportMurder and sudden deathPostwarNorth AmericaCommon lawUnited States