Texas cheerleader murder plot: Wanda Holloway murder-for-hire case shocked the nation in 1991

CHANNELVIEW, Texas (KTRK) -- It was January 31, 1991, when the news of a Channelview mother arrested for hiring a hitman in an effort to land her daughter a spot on the cheerleading squad shocked the Houston community and made national headlines.

Wanda Holloway, 37, was charged with trying to hire a man to kill the mother of her daughter's cheerleading rival.

The intended victim was Verna Heath, the mother of Amber Heath. Amber had been a cheerleader at Alice Johnson Jr. High School. According to police, Holloway apparently thought if Amber's mother was killed, she would be too distraught to try out for cheerleading, making it easier for Holloway's daughter Shanna to make the squad.



Holloway went to her former brother-in-law, Terry Harper, to help arrange the hitman deal, but Harper contacted the sheriff's department. When Harper and Holloway met at a Pasadena motel to seal the deal, their conversation was recorded. Holloway was later arrested and charged with solicitation of capital murder.



The case garnered national attention and Holloway became known as "the pom pom mom."



Holloway was convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison, but the trial was overturned. Before her second trial started, Holloway pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. She received probation after serving six months of her sentence.