Five unidentified suspects have been arrested for the robbery and dual murder of Monica Spear, the former Miss Venezuela and Thomas Henry Berry, her ex-husband, as they resisted a robbery on a roadside in Venezuela. They were killed while spending New Year's in the Angel Hills of Western Venezuela.
Spear and Berry were "shot and killed in close range on an isolated stretch of highway in Venezuela on Monday night when they tried to foil an assault by a group of robbers by locking themselves inside their car, which had been disabled by tire punctures," as reported by Foxnewslatino.com. Maya, their 5-year-old daughter, witnessed the double murder, and remains in stable condition after treatment for a leg wound. The young girl is currently with relatives in Caracas.
"There's no words to describe our pain. This is something that should have never happened," said Monica Spear's father Rafeal Spear, in an interview with to News 13 in Orlando.
"Our plan is to bring Maya since she's now alone in this world. Our plan is to bring her here and have her grow up in the States, if the U.S. government allows us to do that," he added.
Some of the suspects arrested in Puerto Cabella are all under 18, as the "accused bandits fired at least six shots in the vehicle," according to foxnewslatino.com. Spear and Berry were killed between Puerto Cabello -the country's main port - and Valencia, the provincial capital.
The four door sedan reportedly hit "a sharp object that had been placed on the highway" which punctured at least two of its tires, the director of the country's investigative police, Jose Gregorio Sierralta, told reporters on Wednesday. Two tow trucks arrived almost immediately, and the attack occurred after the car had been lifted onto one of the trucks. The couple hid in the sedan before it was sprayed by bullets.
"They fired with viciousness," President Nicolas Maduro said of the attackers.
The president also admitted in a news conference that his his country is beset with violence and accepts "full responsibility" for not taking proper measures to improve the security situation in the past year.
"The war against crime is a failed model in Venezuela and in the rest of the continent, for that matter. We need to construct a new system, a multi-layered system of justice that guarantees the protection of the people, but through a peaceful way instead of violent crackdowns," Maduro added.
Spear, who is a graduate of the University of Central Florida, had been crowned Miss Venezuela in 2004, and was 5th runner-up in 2005. She also acted in many soap operas, including 'Pasion Prohibida' for the U.S.-based Telemundo network. Spear was shooting a short film in Caracas while with her ex-husband and daughter.
Recent social media postings by Spear reveal that she had been enjoying her trip to Angel Falls with her ex-husband and daughter.
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