The recently revisited autopsy of beloved Latina superstar Selena Quintanilla is putting to bed a long-standing rumor that Selena's fatal wound was compounded by a refusal of a blood transfusion on religious grounds by her father, Abraham Quintanilla.
According to the official report. Selena was shot once on March 31, 1995, at a Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi by her former fan-club president, Yolanda Saldívar. The autopsy report, published by US Weekly, indicates that path of the bullet entered near her upper right back, traversed her ribs and lung, exited the upper right front chest, and "severed the right subclavian artery," a major vessel draining blood from the heart into the arm and neck. The coroner ruled the cause of death as "exsanguinating internal and external hemorrhage ... due to a perforating gunshot wound of the thorax."
The autopsy and court records detail how Selena lost nearly all her blood volume within minutes. A key physician at the trial stated that by the time she arrived at the hospital she was clinically brain dead, her circulatory system had collapsed, and her veins had "lost tone" from hemorrhage.
However, experts consulted by The Latin Times and ENSTARZ confirm that a gunshot wound that destroys or tears the subclavian artery is considered one of the most lethal injuries a person can sustain. That artery sits deep beneath the collarbone and supplies massive blood flow to the brain and upper body. If it is ruptured, a person can lose enough blood to cause unconsciousness in 30 to 90 seconds and death within a few minutes without immediate, advanced trauma care."
Many fans have speculated for years that Abraham Quintanilla's affiliation with the Jehovah's Witnesses faith might have prevented the singer from receiving the timely transfusion she needed. That narrative suggested a withheld blood transfusion played a role in her death. However, in a 2021 interview, Mr. Quintanilla emphatically denied that version of events: "Selena was given blood by the doctor. They are incorrect, completely incorrect," he said.
The autopsy report resurfaces the same week that the awarded documentary 'Selena y Los Dinos' hits Netflix.
The production includes never-before-seen photos and videos of the slain Mexican music singer, and indepth research about her life and her relationships within the band that contributed to her sucess, with husband Chris Pérez, and sibblings AB Quintanilla and Suzette Quintanilla among its members.
This year Saldívar went for the first time in front of the parole board to ask for clemency, but she was denied.
© 2025 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
