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Shanna Harper, daughter of Wanda Holloway, was catapulted into public life during high school as her mother’s criminal actions were uncovered. In 1991, Wanda Holloway was arrested for a plan to murder Verna Heath, the mother of Shanna's classmate and cheerleading competitor, Amber Heath.
Shanna never knew that her mother had made all these plans. So, she spent her teenage years amidst significant media attention and personal problems. Now, Shanna Harper is known as Shanna Widner, and she has rebuilt her life in Houston, Texas. She runs a successful philanthropic business as an entrepreneur and is also a devoted wife and mother.
She focuses on helping others through her self-help courses. According to the Good Morning America segment from a 2012 interview, despite all her struggles, Shanna Harper has reached reconciliation with her mother and lives a happy life with her family.
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The case has come to be known as the "Texas Cheerleader Murder Plot," which is explored in more detail in The Texas Cheerleader Murder Plot documentary. It aired on Investigation Discovery (ID) on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, and will be available to stream the following day, Thursday, December 19, 2024, on Max.
Where is Shanna Harper today?
Shanna Harper is now known as Shanna Widner and lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Darren Widner. She has two sons named Shea and Shawn Alston from a previous relationship. Her family now also includes Wanda Holloway since Shanna has worked to reestablish her relationship with her mother over the years.
Shanna Widner has spent nearly two decades in education before transitioning to her entrepreneurial venture, Smile More Worry Less. This series of online self-help courses is designed to help individuals overcome negative thought patterns and embrace a positive mindset.
Drawing inspiration from her personal experiences, Shanna offers private consultations and personalized support to help others find balance and resilience. Shanna frequently shares posts on her social media featuring short trips and outings with her husband and family.
Early life and the cheerleading scandal of Shanna Harper
Shanna Harper was born in 1977 to Wanda and Tony Harper. She had an older brother, Shane. Harper lived with her mother after her parents separated in 1980. She was a child who loved cheerleading. However, in a segment with Good Morning America, Shanna confessed she was more interested in dance than cheerleading and agreed that it was her mother who was interested in her winning.
In 1990, Shanna lost a spot on the cheerleading team to Amber Heath, which led to an escalating obsession on Wanda’s part. While Shanna started losing interest in cheerleading, Wanda was determined to secure a spot for her daughter in the upcoming 1991 tryouts.
To achieve this, Wanda secretly contacted her former brother-in-law, Terry Harper, and plotted the murder of Amber’s mother, Verna Heath. Shanna didn't know about her mom's plan. According to Newsweek, Wanda Holloway contacted her ex-brother-in-law, Terry Harper, to execute the plan. However, Terry Harper contacted the police and informed them of Wanda's plan. The truth of the matter came out in January 1991 when Wanda was charged with solicitation of capital murder.
Shanna was shell-shocked to hear the news as she faced emotional and social fallout. In an exclusive with the New York Post, she said,
“When this happened, it just totally destroyed my personality. It changed it to where I became very introverted instead of extroverted and didn’t want to be even noticed.”
Life after the scandal: Challenges and healing
After Wanda's arrest, Shanna and Shane were adopted by their father, Tony Harper. Shanna returned to school, but it was tough because everything was in the newspapers with her mother's case.
In an exclusive with the New York Post, Shanna talked about the emotional toll, explaining how the coverage and attention by the media and public took a psychological toll on her.
"I wanted to disappear because I was so embarrassed and humiliated. It was shameful. It was traumatic, and I didn’t deal with it for many, many years. And it affected me in all kinds of ways.”
She cut off from the Heath family and only communicated with her mother minimally, even after Wanda's parole in 1997. In an interview in 2012 with Good Morning America, Shanna said that she had just started to process the traumatic events and was estranged from Wanda for a long time.
The Texas Cheerleader Murder Plot aired on December 18 on ID.
