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Former Miss Venezuela killed during robbery

China.org.cn, January 8, 2014

• A former Miss Venezuela and her ex-husband were shot before their 5-year-old daughter's eyes during a robbery late Monday night, the local police said.

  Monica Spear became Miss Venezuela in 2004.

  
  
  

  Monica Spear, 29, and her ex-husband 39-year-old British citizen Thomas Henry Berry, the owner of an independent travel consulting agency, were shot dead on a roadside near Venezuela's main port of Puerto Cabello.

  The family was on vacation for the New Year holidays and was traveling in a grey 2002 Toyota Corolla toward the city of Valencia at the time of the attack. Monica was currently living in Miami and was expected to return to the United States later this week. The two continued to have a good relationship despite their divorce.

  Jose Gregorio Sierralta, director of Venezuela's investigative police, told the press that the car had hit "a sharp object that had been placed on the highway."

  He said the attack occurred soon after the car had been lifted onto a tow truck. The family had locked themselves in their car after they saw assailants approaching. Next, the assailants opened fire through the car windows.

  Their 5-year-old daughter survived the attack and received medical treatment for a minor leg injury. She is in stable condition now and currently has been placed with her grandparents in Venezuela.

  Five people have been arrested in connection with the attack, including several youngsters under the age of 18, police director Sierralta said, adding that the government will work hard to identify the killers and continue to tackle Venezuela's murder numbers.

  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called the killing “a massacre” and said more needed to be done to put a stop to the country's violence.

  "It is very sad and we feel the pain of this loss," the president said of this tragedy, "Ms. Spear was a very spiritual young woman actively involved in various charities."

  Spear became Miss Venezuela in 2004 and represented her country in the Miss Universe pageant the next year. She also acted in numerous Spanish-spoken soap operas (the so-called telenovelas) for U.S.-based Telemundo network, including "Flor Salvaje" (Savage Flower) and most recently "Pasion Prohibida" (Forbidden Passion). The star confessed in a previous interview that she had left her native Venezuela due to the feeling of insecurity she had there.

  "We are deeply impacted and saddened by the horrible crime that the beloved actress Monica Spear and her family suffered," the network said in a statement. "Monica was not just a great professional, as she showed in the two soap operas that she worked on with us ..., but also she was an excellent person, always enthusiastic and with great strength and determination."

  Venezuela is one of the world's most violent countries, according to a United Nations ranking.

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