Woman Responsible For Selena Quintanilla’s Death Had Lawsuit Against Her Prison Dismissed

Yolanda Saldivar, the infamous shooter of Tejano music queen Selena Quintanilla, has been involved in a legal battle against the Mountain View prison in Gatersville, Texas where she is currently serving her life sentence. Yolanda sued the facility for a head injury she suffered when she fell from her bunk bed back in May 2015. She expected to get $500,000 for the pain, suffering and physical injuries she had to go through.

Mrs. Saldivar’s case revolved around the fact that her injury could have been avoided. According to an investigation of the lawsuit made by Univision, Yolanda Saldivar was assigned a top bunk in her prison cell, despite her short stature, obesity and a medical condition that forces her to take heart and thyroid medication. Saldivar’s constant requests for a lower bunk went ignored by the authorities.

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Her accusations went forward and claimed the prison staff engaged in “sadistic acts” against her, despite her good behavior and attachment to prison rules. Saldivar alleges that the authorities lacked concern for her injuries and that it wasn’t until ten days later, that she was taken to a doctor to have her injuries evaluated. However, according to Univision, the lawsuit has already been dismissed twice. First, it was dismissed by a district court, when Saldivar appealed the decision, the lawsuit was again shut down by the Fifth District Court of Appeal back in September.

Apparently, the court’s evaluation of the evidence did not support Yolanda Saldivar’s claims of mistreatment. According to the court, Saldivar never submitted a formal document where she outlined the potential dangers she could face by sleeping in the top bunk, and since there is no prison rule that contemplates this kind of scenario and specifically points out that prisoners with medical conditions cannot be assigned the top bunks, the court decided to dismiss the case, because even though the fall could have been anticipated, it wasn’t because the prison broke any of their own rules, at least on purpose.

Her accusations involving the medical treatment she received (or lack of for that matter) were also disregarded by the court. Prison staff claims that Saldivar was promptly treated by a nurse after her fall and that she was never denied any type of care for her injuries. With Saldivar not being able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the prison system is working against her, the court had no choice but to dismiss her case.

Article inspired by Vivala // A court shut down Selena’s killer’s lawsuit against her prison — here’s why