Wanda Holloway, Known as the Pom Pom Mom, Was Involved in a Murder-for-Hire Plot
"We do not have a very close relationship."
Published Dec. 17 2024, 7:36 p.m. ET
In 1993, HBO released a truly unbelievable movie whose title was asking a lot from its viewers. In The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, actor Holly Hunter plays Wanda Holloway. Set in Channelview, Texas, the movie follows its main character down a very dark hole that begins with cheerleading and ends in prison.
"Oh, the things you do for your kids," says Hunter as Holloway while sighing the heaviest of sighs.
Entertainment Weekly said the movie "found humor in social rituals, but not at the expense of the people who participate in them." That's the thing about this film and the story it's actually based on, one must take something seriously if they see no other path to it apart from murder.
So, where is the real Wanda Holloway now? Here's what we know.
Where is Wanda Holloway now? She is not in prison.
According to ABC 13 News, Holloway was arrested in January 1991 and charged with solicitation of capital murder. She was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison, per KPRC. However, it was soon discovered that one of the jurors had a prior drug-related conviction which caused the judge to declare a mistrial.
This time Holloway pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 10 years. After serving six months, she got out on probation and was ordered to do 1000 hours of community service.
Holloway has kept a low profile since she was released from prison in March 1997. You might be wondering why she was there. It all comes down to what can go wrong when you live vicariously through your kids.
Her daughter, Shanna Widner, was 13 years old when her mother tried to hire someone to kill a cheerleading rival.
Widner was friends with Amber Heath, the girl who made the team when Widner did not. Holloway decided that Amber was the only thing keeping her daughter from living out a dream that might not have been her own. Using some sort of twisted logic, Holloway decided that if she had Amber's mother, Verna Heath, killed then the teenager would be too distraught to stay on the team.
Thankfully it never came to fruition and Holloway was caught.
In February 2012, Shanna spoke with Good Morning America (via ABC News) about her relationship with Holloway. By that time Shanna had a family of her own and mostly communicated with Holloway through her own children.
"We do not have a very close relationship," she told the outlet. "We don't have a mother-daughter relationship where you sit around and gossip." Shanna lets her mother see her kids and vows to avoid becoming a stage mom.
Where is Verna Heath now?
Verna Heath and her family filed a civil lawsuit against Holloway which, per the Los Angeles Times, was settled in October 1994. Holloway was ordered to pay $150,000 to the Heath family, which would be paid by her home insurance company.
After legal fees, the Heaths got roughly $100,000. Verna and her husband Jack got $70,000 while the remaining $30,000 was split between the couple's four children.
Verna is fairly active on her Facebook page where she mostly posts about a multi-level marketing company she works for called LegalShield. There are a few reviews on Reddit that don't paint it in a positive light. She has tagged a couple of her children in a few posts, but not Amber who either isn't on Facebook or uses a different name.
In December 2024, Investigation Discovery is dropping a documentary about the murder-for-hire plot titled The Texas Cheerleader Murder Plot. It's unclear if Verna and her family are aware this is happening.