Monica Spear Mootz, a South American telenovela actress who got her start after she was crowned Miss Venezuela in 2004, was shot dead alongside her ex-husband in a car robbery on Monday night.
Spear Mootz, 29, and Thomas Henry Berry, 39, were departing a holiday vacation in Puerto Cabello and heading to Valencia with their daughter Maya Veliz when their car broke down on a Venezuelan motorway. On the side of the road, a pair of armed assailants approached their gray Toyota Corolla. When they locked the door, the criminals fired inside the vehicle, shooting and killing both Spear Mootz and Berry, reported NBC News.
Maya Veliz survived the gunfire, but did sustain injuries. She was taken to the hospital, where she is continuing to recover from her non-life threatening wounds. Her grandparents are by her side, according to the Mirror.
Spear Mootz and Berry had been married for four years before getting a divorce in 2013. Despite the dissolution of their marriage, the two had made the choice to remain in each other’s lives for the sake of their child.
"It was a spectacular divorce,” Mootz told a local paper. "What happened is that I married a very civilized person and when we took the decision to go our separate ways we talked about the fact we had a daughter together and decided we should carry on seeing each other for the rest of our lives and it was best for our daughter that we got on well with each other.
"I want the best for him and he wants the best for me,” she added. “I can assure you there are no problems between us."
Berry, born in England, moved to Venezuela with his family when he was a child. He briefly lived in Florida after being shot 15 years ago, but ultimately returned to the country in which he grew up. In Venezuela, Berry owned and operated an adventure tour company. Spear Mootz’s last telenovela role was as Bianca Santillana de Piamonte in Pasión Prohibida.
– Chelsea Regan
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