The Days Inn: The motel where Selena was shot dead
Crime Scene Location in Corpus Christi, Texas
This is the motel where Selena Quintanilla Pérez was shot dead.
It is located at 901 Navigation Boulevard in Corpus Christi, Texas.
At the time of the shooting, it was called the Days Inn. However, these days, it is the Red Roof Inn.
Selena was a Mexican-American singer whose career skyrocketed in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
During this period, she gained millions of adoring fans, one of whom was a San Antonio native named Yolanda Saldívar.
Yolanda Saldívar
Saldívar became such a huge fan that she contacted the singer's father, Abraham Quintanilla, and asked for his permission to set up an official fan club.
Although he initially ignored her phone calls, he eventually agreed after she kept pestering him.
As time wore on, the fan club grew, and Saldívar became good friends with Selena.
By 1994, her influence had grown so much within the family that they selected her to run Selena's boutiques and beauty salons.
Although staff members at the businesses complained that she was an unstable woman who treated everyone horribly, the singer and her family largely ignored these complaints. From their perspective, Saldívar was a loyal friend with a proven track record.
Financial irregularities
In 1995, it emerged that there were financial irregularities with both the fan club and the boutiques.
Saldívar had been abusing the company's credit card for her own personal gain and taking money from the fan club's bank account.
When these details came to light, the family decided to terminate her employment.
Initially, Selena was hesitant to remove Saldívar from her life, as she still considered her to be a close friend. It also seems as though she had some doubts about whether she was truly guilty or not.
However, her outlook changed when she started noticing inconsistencies in her friend's story. As a result, their relationship became strained.
After being removed from her position as the head of the fan club, Saldívar purchased a .38-caliber revolver at a local gun shop. She then concocted a false story about how she had been raped.
On the morning of March 31st, 1995, Selina agreed to pick her up from her motel room and drive her to the hospital. During the medical examination, the singer became somewhat angry when Saldívar started contradicting some of her earlier claims about the incident.
By that stage, it is likely that Selina was growing frustrated with her friend's lies.
The murder of Selena Quintanilla Pérez
The pair started arguing when they arrived back at the motel room on Navigation Boulevard. Things reached a boiling point when Selena told Saldívar that she could no longer be trusted and that she should return any financial documents in her possession.
Angered by this demand, Saldívar grabbed her hidden revolver and pointed it at Selena.
When the singer turned around and attempted to flee, Saldívar opened fire and shot her in the lower shoulder, puncturing an artery.
Shocked and fatally wounded, Selena staggered towards the motel lobby. Initially, Saldívar followed her from behind. However, she retreated back to her truck after her anger subsided and she realized the gravity of the situation.
Once she reached the lobby, she went inside and begged the staff to keep the doors closed, as she believed that her assailant was trying to shoot her again and finish the job.
By that point, she was so weak from blood loss that she slumped down on the floor. Before she lost consciousness, she mentioned Saldívar's name and the number of the motel room where she had been shot.
Death
Although the paramedics were quick to arrive at the scene, they faced an uphill battle to keep her alive, as she had lost a large amount of blood. Furthermore, the bullet had completely severed one of her main arteries.
When she reached Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital, the medical team spent one hour trying to save her life. However, their efforts were futile, as the damage was irreparable.
At around 1:05 p.m. on March 31st, 1995, Selena Quintanilla Pérez was pronounced dead at the age of 23.
Seven months later, in October 1995, Saldívar was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in thirty years.
Her first parole hearing will be in 2025.
The Days Inn: Selena death motel
The address and the GPS coordinates for this location are as follows:
Address
901 Navigation Blvd, Corpus Christi, Texas, TX 78408, USA
GPS coordinates
The latitude and longitude coordinates for the motel are:
27.802211, -97.453515
Directions
The motel sits on the southern side of Interstate 37 in the Central City neighborhood of Corpus Christi. It is relatively close to the Gulf Coast Racing Track. The original room number was 158. However, it has since been renumbered to 150.
Details about the general area
Corpus Christi is a city on the southern coast of Texas. It is about 120 miles south of San Antonio.
Private Property Warning
This is a private property. It is not a public place. Therefore, you should be respectful and not step foot on the property without permission.
Photos
Photos of the motel and other related images.
901 Navigation Boulevard
This Google Street View image of 901 Navigation Boulevard was taken in December 2021.
At the time of Selena's murder, the motel was called the Days Inn.
At some point after 2011, it became the Knights Inn. Then, in 2021, it was renamed the Red Roof Inn.
Route
This aerial image shows the route that Selena ran along after she was shot in the back. It was 350 feet (110 meters) between the motel room and the lobby.
As the singer ran through the parking lot, clutching her chest, Saldívar pursued her with the gun and shouted obscenities at her. However, Saldívar reportedly turned around and retreated after the singer managed to make it into the lobby.
Motel room
Back in 1995, the room was number 158. However, these days, it is room 150.
This may or may not have been deliberate, as hotels will sometimes renumber their rooms if they undergo significant renovations that add, merge, or remove units.
Following the shooting, fans turned the front of room 158 into a mural for the singer.
In the bottom right, you can see a photograph of the Taurus Model 85 snub-nosed .38-caliber revolver that Saldívar purchased in the days leading up to the murder.
Yolanda Saldívar
Yolanda Saldívar was arrested following a nine-hour standoff with the police, during which she sat in her truck and threatened to kill herself.
At her trial, she claimed that the shooting was accidental and that she had intended to commit suicide.
The jury, however, did not buy this defense. On October 23rd, 1995, they found her guilty of one count of first-degree murder.
Shortly afterwards, the judge sentenced her to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole until March 2025.
She is currently serving out her sentence at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas.
Lobby
After being shot, Selena ran into the hotel lobby and begged staff members to keep the doors closed.
She then gradually lost consciousness before passing out.
Although the ambulance arrived in less than two minutes, it was already too late. By the time the paramedics started working on her, her blood pressure was so low that her veins had collapsed.