MEXICAN actress and singer Tania Mendoza who survived a violent kidnapping a decade ago was executed as she waited to pick up her 11-year-old son from a soccer academy.

The 32-year-old was a well-known actress in her native country. 

Who was Tania Mendoza? 

Born in León, Guanajuato, Tania Lizardo began acting at age 18. 

She dropped out of Universidad La Salle where she had been studying architecture and moved to Mexico City where she graduated from the Centro de Educación Artística (CEA)

She made her television debut in the "María, pescadera" chapter of the TV series Mujeres asesinas in 2009. 

In 2012, she made her feature film debut in the romantic comedy Viaje de generación.

Mendoza starred in the 2003 film 'La mera mera reyna del sur' ('The Plain Queen of the South'), in which she played a strong and audacious woman who faced the cops and managed to take over a drug cartel.

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Her killing was not her first encounter with violence, as she had been kidnapped in 2010 along with her husband and then six-month-old son. 

The three survived the incident.

Friends of the actress and singer have written condolences to her family. One of her friends, identified only as Damaris in local reports, said: "Yesterday they took her life. Rest in peace, beautiful friend. 

“May God keep you in his glory and let perpetual light shine for you."

No suspects have been arrested at the time of writing.

What was Tania Mendoza's cause of death? 

She was shot dead outside the Los Felinos football club, in the Lomas de Cortes neighbourhood in the city of Cuernavaca, which is the capital of Morelos state, in south-central Mexico on Tuesday, December 14 at about 6.15pm.

The police and medics responded to the scene, but Mendoza was already dead.

This beautiful actress dubbed the Queen of the South was killed while picking up her son from football practice.

The state government has yet to make a comment on the attacks, and the investigation into the brutal killing is ongoing.

How many children did Tania Mendoza have?

It is understood she had one child, an 11-year-old boy.

She was picking him up when she was gunned down by two men on a motorcycle. 

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