A woman convicted of trying to hire a man to kill the mother of her daughter's rival for a cheerleading squad begged a jury Wednesday to give her probation rather than life in prison, saying she'd been punished enough.
Jurors deliberated about six hours Tuesday before convicting Wanda Holloway, 37, of Channelview, of solicitation of murder. The jury returned this morning to hear testimony in the punishment phase of the trial.Prosecutors argued that Holloway wanted Verna Heath killed in hopes that Heath's daughter, Amber, would be too upset to compete in cheerleader tryouts against Holloway's daughter, Shanna Harper.
"I don't care what you do with her, I just don't want to see her in Channelview again," Holloway said in secret tape recordings played at the trial.
Breaking into sobs on the witness stand Wednesday, Holloway said: "I never meant for anything to happen to her or Amber and if I could do anything to take it back, I would."
Asked by her lawyers why she thought she should be placed on probation, she said: "Because I think that this trial has been enough punishment for me."
Heath described how her life has been changed.
"I've had nightmares at night and when I get in my car, I'm afraid to start the engine because I've often felt like my car was going to blow up," she said.
Holloway acknowledged the effect on the Heath family.