Selena Quintanilla, American singer and icon, was born on April 26, 1971 and killed on March 31, 1995. 28 years later, Quintanilla’s killer, Yolanda Saldívar, is coming out with a documentary telling her side of the story. This is another case where the murderer somehow becomes the victim. The two-part documentary premieres on Oxygen with episodes releasing on Feb. 17 and 18. They will be available to stream on Peacock the day after they are released. I will not be watching. Quite frankly I am not interested in what the perpetrator of a murder has to say, when the victim is not here to tell her side of the story.

Saldívar took a life, even if that life had not been a tremendously talented or famous, it still would have mattered and had a significant impact on all the people that cherished this human. This new documentary feels as though Saldívar is trying to gain attention and empathy. If I was eligible for parole beginning in 2025, I would certainly keep my mouth shut about a crime I committed. America has a bad habit of glamorizing murderers and putting them on television and making movies victimizing them, but this seems to have a different set of feedback. Nearly all of the feedback I have been seeing has been from Quintanilla fans raving about how this is purely wrong and unfair. While the internet can be a rocky place, the consistency of the responses are reassuring.

Recently, Gypsy Rose Blanchard, victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, came out with a documentary and interviews on her side of the story with her mother’s murder. When looking at them side by side, we can point out that one was an abused child and the other was the president of the fan club of the woman she killed. There is always the chance Saldívar is apologetic and remorseful in this series, and shocks the world with her words. That chance seems unlikely. A rational and clear-minded apology coming from a woman that allegedly stole money from Quintanilla’s boutique before she killed her and also claimed she meant to use the murder weapon on herself and not the victim seems far from reality. I am curious to see how Quintanilla’s family will react and respond to the documentary once it comes out. Quintanilla cannot speak for herself, but she does have many advocates that can represent her and what she stood for. Will we find out what really happened or will this documentary spark mass conflict? All we can do is wait and see what Yolanda Saldívar says.

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