THE loved ones of Selena Quintanilla were quietly engaged in an emotionally exhausting two-year battle with a parole board to ensure the singer’s killer remained in jail, a source has revealed to The U.S. Sun.

Yolanda Saldivar, the crazed fan and former president of the legendary Tejano singer’s fan club, was denied parole by a panel in Texas on March 27, days shy of the 30th anniversary of Selena’s killing.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole determined that Saldivar, 64, who has been jailed for three decades after being convicted of first-degree murder in October 1995, remains a threat to public safety due to the violent nature of the crime.

“The record indicated that the instant offense has elements of brutality, violence, assaultive behavior or conscious selection of victim’s vulnerability indicating a conscious disregard for the lives, safety, or property of others, such that the offender poses a continuing threat to public safety,” the parole panel said in a statement.

The parole process and the extensive media coverage were a grueling, horrific experience for the Quintanilla family and friends of the Grammy Award-winning singer, who was a 23-year-old newlywed at the time of her death.

Saldivar’s case may have gone into the review process approximately six months before she became eligible for parole on March 30, but for those close to Selena, their efforts to keep the killer incarcerated began two years ago.

“It’s been a very, very crazy 12 months because time flies, and all of a sudden, it was upon us. It’s hard,” a source close to the singer’s family told The U.S. Sun.

“Those of us that were involved were very connected to the parole board. We were all victims, so we were very, very connected to the parole board.

“We’ve been very connected to the parole board for the last two years.”

‘THE PAIN IS NOT DIFFERENT’

In the months and weeks leading up to Saldivar’s parole hearing, the Quintanilla family and Chris Perez, the singer’s widower, remained silent and declined to make public statements about the proceeding.

“As you can respect culturally when someone in your family has been brutally, and I call it assassination because it was, and you go through a very public trial, and you go through a very public mourning, we all went through it,” the source added.

“And now, all of a sudden, this individual is coming up for parole, you can respect that they would really want their privacy.”

It was only after Saldivar was denied parole that the family broke their silence and expressed gratitude to the parole board’s decision, affirming that “justice continues to stand for the beautiful life that was taken from us and from millions of fans around the world.”

But behind the scenes, the source described to The U.S. Sun the panic-stricken weeks leading up to the parole panel’s decision.

“When it comes to what we went through as young adults, as you probably imagine and respect, it was a horrific experience. It was one of the worst horrific experiences of my life,” the insider said.

“So, to have to go back to it 30 years [later] – the pain is not different, the pain is not different than 1995 to now, it’s exactly the same.

“This has been such a traumatic year for a lot of us. I would be lying to you if I didn’t tell you I was frantic these last couple of weeks because I don’t know what was going to happen.

“I’m grateful that it turned out the way it turned out – you know no idea.

“Selena’s legacy has become legendary, and then now we’re going back to this woman and it’s just very, very hard.

“It was hard when we went through it, I don’t want to talk about it again.”

Saldivar will be eligible to be reviewed again for parole in March 2030.

TRAILBLAZING SUPERSTAR

Selena, who decades after her senseless killing on March 31, 1995, continues to be adored and admired by millions of fans who acknowledge her as the Queen of Tejano music.

During the late 1980s to mid 1990s, Selena became the face of Tejano music during the genre’s boom in the south in the early ’90s.

With songs like Amor Prohibido, Tu Solo Tu, and Bidi Bidi Bom Bom, Selena reached a level of stardom in the United States before the likes of prominent Spanish/English-singing artists like Ricky Martin, Shakira and Enrique Iglesias.

A rising star, Selena performed in front of a record-breaking, sold-out crowd at the Houston Astrodome in February 1994.

A month later, she captured her first Grammy Award in March 1994 for Best Mexican/American Album, triumphing over the likes of Mexican icons Vicente Fernandez, Los Tigres del Norte, and Pedro Fernández.

However, Selena’s life was cut short as she was on the cusp of an international level breakthrough.

DEATH OF AN ICON

On March 31, 1995, Selena traveled to the Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas, about two hours south of San Antonio, to retrieve financial documents from Saldivar, who had been fired by the Quintanilla family after being accused of embezzling money from the singer’s fan club and boutique shops.

An argument between the two ensued, and as Selena turned away in an attempt to exit the motel room, Saldivar pulled out a .38-caliber revolver and shot her longtime friend in the back.

Selena managed to run out of the room; however, witnesses said they saw Saldivar emerge from the door with a gun, points the gun at Selena and shouted “b***h,” prosecutors said during the October 1995 murder trial.

Selena managed to make it to the motel’s lobby, where she collapsed and died after being transported to the hospital.

A nine-hour standoff between Corpus Christi police and Saldivar ensued after authorities arrived at the Days Inn.

Saldivar locked herself in her van and held the revolver to her head, claiming she was going to take her own life.

“I didn’t mean to do it, I didn’t mean to kill anybody,” a sobbing Saldivar told police during the standoff.

Saldivar claimed to police that the gun accidentally went off as Selena was leaving the motel room.

Saldivar was eventually arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

After a two-week trial, a Houston jury convicted Saldivar in October 1995.

Saldivar was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.