‘Cheerleader Mom’ Leaves Prison Served Six Months For Seeking Hit Man To Kill Rival’s Mother

Texas’ so-called “Cheerleader Mom” was freed Friday after serving six months in prison for trying to hire a hit man to kill the mother of her daughter’s cheerleading rival.

Wanda Holloway, 42, whose misadventures were chronicled in two made-for-TV movies and countless tabloid stories, whisked past reporters without answering questions following her release by District Judge George Godwin.

Godwin, in a 20-minute hearing, said Holloway wouldn’t benefit from more prison time and ordered her to perform 1,000 hours of community service.

At trial in 1991, her ex-brother-in-law testified she gave him diamond earrings as a down payment to arrange the murder of Verna Heath, believing the woman’s grieving daughter would drop tryouts for the cheerleader squad.

Her 15-year prison sentence and $10,000 fine were overturned when it was learned that one juror was on probation. Last year, as a second trial loomed, she pleaded no contest and received a 10-year prison term.

“There is justice today. I don’t want Wanda to stay in jail the rest of her life,” Heath said. “I want her to have help and I want her to realize that what she did was wrong.”

Holloway’s story was spoofed in HBO’s “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom,” and an ABC movie, “Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story,” which aired in 1992.

Prosecutors wanted her to give up profits from future books or movies, but her lawyer said Holloway has lined up a secretarial job and wants a private life.

“Wanda does not want any more publicity,” said Jack Zimmermann.