On Jan. 6 former Miss Venezuela Monica Spear and her ex-husband were gunned down and murdered in front of their 5-year-old daughter. According to reports, Spear was vacationing in Venezuela with her family when her car broke down along the highway.
Alleged robbers opened fire on the car killing Spear and her ex-husband Henry Thomas Berry. Their daughter, Maya, was shot in the leg but survived the shooting.
"It is presumed that the motive was robbery," Venezuelan Justice Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres told CNN. "We are still investigating. There are five people detained who are being interrogated."
Maya is still in the hospital recovering from her gunshot and does not know that both her parents have been murdered. Spear's brother, Ricardo, told NTV24 that the family wants the little girl to get better before they tell her the traumatic news.
"Maya isn't yet aware that her parents have been murdered," Ricardo said. "It's a terrible tragedy what has happened to her and as long as we can give her time to recover we will be there for her."
A source close to the family told TMZ that the family hired a psychologist to help them break the news to Maya. The source said the little girl is "not fully aware of what happened" and she thinks her parents are only "sleeping." Since the tragic shooting, Maya's grandparents have been taking care of her and will be her guardians.
The funeral for Spear and Berry is said to take later this week in Venezuela. The 29-year-old Spear won the title of Miss Venezuela in 2004 and represented the country in the Miss Universe pageant in 2005. She went on to star in soap operas and became an international star.
