Selena Day 2021: 8 Facts About Singer's Death You Didn’t Know About

Selena has been a significant icon since the beginning of the ‘80s, and her tragic fate has left sadness in many of her fans' hearts. Today, we commemorate the death of the beloved singer on her birthday.

Here are eight facts about the singer's death you probably didn't know:

Selena was able to identify her killer before she died.
Before the young pop star was killed, it is said that she had a confrontation with Yolanda Saldivar at a Days Inn motel, as the latter was believed to have embezzled money from Selena's boutiques.

After a heated argument between her and her assistant, Selena sought to leave the room when Saldivar shot her. While heavily bleeding, Selena was able to run to the lobby and identify her killer before collapsing, according to Biography.

Selena's father spent years fighting against gun laws in Texas.
Since the death of his beloved daughter, Abraham Quintanilla became an advocate of fighting against gun laws in Texas. In an interview with Texas Monthly, Quintanilla said, “We live in a dangerous world. Why make it worse? My God, everyone’s armed to the teeth. Anybody is liable to kill you for a minute thing.”

April 16, 1995 was officially declared Selena Day.
Locals across the state mourned upon hearing about the death of the singer. A few weeks after, George W. Bush, then Texas governor, officially declared April 16 as Selena Day. That day in 1995 would have been the young star's 24th birthday.

Selena's killer founded her fan club.

Saldivar was a fan-turned-employee of the pop star. Her involvement with the Quintanillas began when she approached Selena's father and proposed the idea of starting a fan club for the Tejano singer.

"The last call I had with Selena, the last call, I told her to be careful," Martin Gomez, one of Selena's friends, recalled. "It was very weird. I was very afraid of Yolanda. But I never thought she would hurt Selena. I never thought it would come to this."

Saldivar's attachment to Selena later became an obsession.
Even early on in the singer's career, friends of Selena have already noticed Saldivar's unhealthy attachment to her and would advise her to take caution.

"She was very vindictive. She was very possessive of Selena," Gomez told The Washington Post days after Selena’s death.

"She'd get, like, very angry if you crossed her. She would play so many mind games, say people had said things they hadn't said,” Gomez added.

Saldivar is up for parole in 2025.
Saldivar is currently serving her sentence at Mountain View Unit, a maximum-state women's prison in Gatesville, Texas. According to Biography, she will be eligible for parole in 2025, when she will have served at least 30 years of her sentence at that time.

She would've been 49 years old today.
If the singer had survived that attack on March 31, 1995, she would have been 49 years old today.

Her impact still lives on today.
Selena remains to be the only female artist to have five albums on the Billboard 200 -- all at the same time -- and is still regarded as one of the all-time best-selling female artists in Latin music.