The family of a University of Central Florida graduate and former Miss Venezuela speaks out after the 29-year-old and her ex-husband were shot and killed Monday night.
“There’s no words to describe our pain. This is something that should have never happened,” said Monica Spear’s father Rafeal Spear.
Monica, 29, and her ex-husband, 39-year-old Thomas Berry, were killed in front of their 5-year-old daughter near Puerto Cabello in Venezuela.
Venezuelan Police said the couple resisted robbers by locking their car doors after it broke down.
The couple’s daughter was shot in the leg but is expected to be OK.
As the family is still trying to comprehend how and why this happened, Spear’s parents are turning their attention to their granddaughter, who witnessed the attack.
“Our plan is to bring Maya since she’s now alone in this world,” Spear said. “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.”
Spear was one of UCF’s most notable graduates ever. She studied theatre, graduated at the age of 19 and has been considered a distinguished alumna ever since winning Miss Venezuela in 2004. Spear later finished as the fourth runner up in the 2005 Miss Universe pageant.
Lately, she was an actress in a popular telenovela with dreams of eventually working in Hollywood.
“She was the star of the family. So whenever she was here, she was really the center of attention of this family,” Spear said.
“If you look at her Twitter account, her Instagram account, she went all over Venezuela,” added Spear’s brother Javier Spear.
Family members told News 13 Spear was their only immediate loved one who still lived outside of the Orlando area.
They said Spear split her time between Miami and Venezuela.
Meanwhile, family friend and community activist Maritza Sanz will remember Spear as a young woman, who saw the best in her troubled country.
“She was the ambassador of Venezuela,” said Sanz, the president of Latino Leadership. “Very shining star, a girl that had a lot of values, somebody that had a lot of talent to give and somebody that will be remembered always because she taught us, through her to love her country.”
“After every soap opera that she recorded, she was going back to Venezuela, as she did the last time,” Spear said.
According to Venezuelan Police, five suspects have been arrested.
The Spear’s will arrive in Venezuela on Wednesday to finalize funeral arrangements and hopefully bring their granddaughter back to Orlando.
However, Spear’s father said the core of their family will never be the same.