The woman who killed Selena Quintanilla in 1995 is suing the prison where she serves a life sentence for the murder, stating that the Texas compound has denied her medical care after she fell off her bunk bed. She is asking for $500,000 dollars in damages.
Univisión first reported that Saldívar filed a lawsuit against the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The lawsuit states that Saldívar requested a different sleeping arrangement in order to accommodate her small stature, weight, and the injuries she sustained after the fall but claims the prison denied her request.
Now, the TV Network is stating that it gained exclusive access to the lawsuit’s details, revealing more about how she is allegedly being treated in jail. On a very ironic turn, Saldívar is currently suing the jail for pain, suffering, physical injuries, and emotional distress stemming from her bunk bed incident.
Saldívar is basing her lawsuit on the fact that her injury could’ve been easily avoided (according to her). She stated that despite her short stature, obesity, and medical condition, which requires her to take heart and thyroid medication, she was assigned a top bunk that was “60 feet high”, although Univisión admitted that this figure is incorrect and that 60 inches seem more plausible.
Selena’s killer also stated that she hit the right side of her head, and that her injuries from the fall only were checked by a nurse, and that a proper doctor did not diagnose her until 10 days after the incident happened. There is no record or evidence of a response from the prison authorities.
She also accused the prison guards of “bad judgment, carelessness and sadistic treatment” against her, even though she didn’t violate any prison rules.
This isn’t the first time Yolanda Saldívar comes into the public eye since she murdered Selena. Her sentence appeals, revelations about the “Queen of Tex-Mex”, and a recent rumor about her death have been a few of the news that has revived her story.
In a 2004 interview with Mexican television, she stated: “Nobody hangs out with me when I go to recreation time I go alone, I go to the bathroom alone, it’s been known that a lot of inmates want to hurt me.” On several occasions, she has also claimed that the murder was an accident after a heated argument. Saldívar is up for parole until 2025.
