Popular telenovela actress and former Miss Venezuela Mónica Spear is dead at 29 after an attempted robbery late Monday night according to police, Globovision reports.
Spear, who lived in Miami, was traveling with her 5-year-old daughter, Maya, and ex-husband, Henry Thomas Berry, 49, when their rented Toyota Corolla broke down on the Puerto Cabello-Valencia highway in Caracas, Venezuela following a minor accident.
Armed men approached the car and the couple locked themselves inside. The assailants then opened fire, killing Spear and Berry, and shooting 5-year-old Maya in the leg.
Spear appeared in several TV soaps, including Telemundo’s “Flor Salvaje” in 2011 and “Pasión Prohibida” last year, according to Variety.
“We are deeply saddened by the horrible crime that affected the beloved actress Monica Spear and her family,” Telemundo said in a statement. “Monica was not only a great professional as we saw in the two novelas she worked with us – but also an excellent person, always enthusiastic, full of strength and determination. We wish a quick recovery to her daughter and send our deepest condolences to her family.”
Venezuela had more than 24,000 homicides in 2013, according to E! Online, and the U.S. Department of State rates the criminal threat level in the nation's capital, Caracas, as "critical."
Spear had been documenting their trip via Instagram prior to being murdered.
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