In a shocking case from January 1991, a quiet and hardworking community in Channelview, Texas, was turned upside down when Wanda Holloway, a 36-year-old mother of two, was arrested. Holloway, who played the organ at her local church, found herself in serious legal trouble after being accused of planning to murder another mother to help her daughter, Shanna, get onto a cheerleading team.
Authorities claimed that Holloway, often labeled the ‘Pom-Pom Mom,’ tried to hire someone to kill 38-year-old Verna Heath. The motive? Holloway believed that eliminating Heath would give her daughter a better chance at cheerleading success. However, the plan fell apart when law enforcement caught wind of it and intervened.
Fast forward more than three decades, and this strange case has sparked renewed interest with the upcoming documentary titled The Texas Cheerleader Murder Plot, which is set to air on Wednesday, December 18, on Investigation Discovery (ID) and will also be available for streaming on Max.
This two-hour special will feature an exclusive interview with Shanna, who will discuss her mother’s motivations, her feelings about the situation, and the individuals involved in setting up the plot against Verna Heath.
The documentary aims to explore not only the crime itself but also how the media and popular culture misunderstood the events surrounding the case. Wanda Holloway had been increasingly frustrated as her daughter faced setbacks in cheerleading tryouts, blaming Verna and her daughter Amber for Shanna’s failures.
According to reports, after expressing her desperation to her former brother-in-law, Terry Harper, Holloway suggested that he could arrange for a hit. Shocked by her request, Harper approached the authorities instead and agreed to cooperate by wearing a wire to gather evidence.
During their conversations, Holloway provided details about Verna’s daily life and even discussed payment for the hit—$5,000 for the daughter and $2,500 for the mother, laughing off her comments about Verna’s worth.
Later, Holloway met Harper in a parking lot, where she decided to focus solely on Verna, saying, "The mother is the one that screwed me around." At the meeting’s end, she even handed over a pair of diamond earrings as a down payment for the crime.
Eventually, Holloway faced serious charges, including solicitation of capital murder. Although she was initially found guilty, her conviction was overturned. She later opted for a no-contest plea to avoid a retrial and received a 10-year sentence, serving only six months before being granted probation.
As the documentary The Texas Cheerleader Murder Plot approaches its premiere date, it promises to reveal more about this astonishing tale, blending sensational crime with the pressures of parental ambition.
