Venezuelan beauty queen fatally shot during protest

Genesis Carmona is driven away on a motorcycle after she was wounded during an anti-government protest in Valencia, Venezuela, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014. Carmona was allegedly struck by a bullet Tuesday when unknown gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on opposition protesters, said Enzo Scrano, mayor of a Valencia district. According to Scrano, Carmona, a 22-year-old university student, who is a former Miss Tourism for the northern state of Carabobo, died from her wounds on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014.

By AJC.COM staff

Feb 20, 2014

A Venezuelan beauty queen was shot in the head and killed during a political protest this week in Valencia, Venezuela .

Genesis Carmona, who was Miss Tourism 2013 for state of Carabobo, was participating in a demonstration Tuesday, protesting the imprisonment of Leopoldo Lopez, according to the New York Daily News.

The Associated Press reported that National Guard troops shot rubber bullets and unknown gunmen on a motorcycle fired live rounds at protesters.

Carmona, a 22-year-old university student, was struck in the head and killed by a bullet, a death that reverberated in a country that prizes beauty queens.

Lopez is part of a group opposed to the leadership of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Carmona’s death was the fifth fatality to come from Venezuela’s political struggle, the Daily News said.