Selena Murder Site — Days Inn, Corpus Christi

On the morning of 31 March 1995, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez — the 23-year-old Queen of Tejano Music and the best-selling Latin artist of the decade — was shot and killed at Room 158 of the Days Inn motel on Navigation Boulevard in Corpus Christi, Texas. Her killer was Yolanda Saldívar, the founder and manager of her fan club who had recently been confronted over embezzlement from Selena's boutiques. Selena had gone to the motel room to retrieve business records; Saldívar shot her as she tried to leave.

Selena staggered to the motel lobby, named her attacker, and collapsed. She was rushed to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital but was pronounced dead that afternoon. Saldívar barricaded herself in her truck in the parking lot for over nine hours in a standoff broadcast live on television, before finally surrendering. She was convicted of first-degree murder in October 1995 and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.

The Days Inn where the shooting occurred has since been demolished and redeveloped. For fans making the pilgrimage to Corpus Christi, the nearby Selena Memorial statue on the bayfront and the Mirador de la Flor overlook are the primary sites of remembrance. This location on Navigation Boulevard is where her story abruptly ended, just as she was on the verge of crossing over to mainstream American stardom.