New Autopsy Tells Us More About Where Tejano Superstar Selena Was Shot

She was a beautiful, vibrant young Tejano singer with the whole world and her life ahead of her. Selena Quintanilla was just 23 years old when a superfan stalked and killed her, devastating her loved ones and the fans who adored her.

Yolanda Saldívar took Selena's life, stealing not just her future, but the future of everyone who loved her.

Now, 30 years after Selena's shocking death, a new autopsy revelation has painted a more vivid picture of not only where Selena was shot on her body but also how many times Saldívar struck her.

Here's what we know about what the autopsy says.

It's been 30 years since Selena lost her life, and you would think that fans already had all the information there was to have about her tragic passing.

But with the release of a Netflix documentary in 2025 and revelations from an autopsy report, came new information. On the night Selena was killed, she and Saldívar had a disagreement before the latter went after the singer with a gun.

According to Us Weekly, coroner Lloyd White wrote on her autopsy report, "It is my opinion that Selena Quintanilla Pérez, a 23-year-old woman, came to her death as a result of an exsanguinating internal and external hemorrhage, in other words, massive bleeding, due to a perforating gunshot wound of the thorax (chest)."

Her death, unsurprisingly, was ruled a homicide.

Selena's death came from a gunshot wound to her chest. The outlet says the autopsy report noted, "the bullet entered Selena’s back. The path of the bullet was traced from the ribs to the 'upper pulmonary lobe,' before puncturing 'the chest wall.' An exit wound was detected on the 'upper right anterior chest.'"

In other words, the bullet struck her lung and multiple vascular structures in the area.

According to the autopsy report, Selena was only shot once, but the location was catastrophic. The subclavian artery, transporting massive amounts of blood through the head, neck, and trunk area of the body, was severed by the bullet (via The New York Post).

It may have been 30 years since Selena was ripped from her family, but that doesn't mean that she has been forgotten. As the Netflix documentary dropped to mark the sad thirtieth anniversary of her passing, fans still recall the impact she had on their lives.

Under one Netflix trailer for the documentary, one fan mused, "You don't realize how young she was until you pass her age." In the video, which showed the late Selena's widower, Chris Pérez, watching an old video of his beloved wife, one fan noted, "I’m glad they included him. I remember he wanted to do a project like this where it showed more of who she was, and they sued him."

Fans felt that the documentary brought Selena back to life and reminded the world just how much impact she left in such a short life. One fan noted that, "Her family has done an exceptional job of keeping her memory alive," which seems to be a sentiment shared by many.

Although her life was brutally cut short, her legacy lives on.