World News – United States – Miss America 1993 Leanza Cornett dies of head injury

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Leanza Cornett, a woman who grew up in Jacksonville and crowned Miss America in 1993, has died after being hospitalized with a head injury She was 49

The news first aired on Leanza Cornett’s Circle of Love, a social media page that monitored her condition after the injury. This post read:

I’m here to let you know that Leanza passed away this afternoon. She was loved so much I don’t feel like writing a lot right now; my heart is broken

According to Leanza Cornett’s Circle of Love, the former Miss America suffered a head injury on October 12 Periodically the Facebook page shared updates on her condition A post on Saturday afternoon quoted Cornett’s mother , Patti, who recently said: « No news is good news »

Cornett was also crowned Miss Florida in 1992 After being crowned Miss America, she is recognized as the first beauty queen to adopt AIDS awareness and prevention as a platform

The 49-year-old was the first actress to play a live « Ariel » in the show « The Little Mermaid » at the Walt Disney World Resort in 1991. Throughout her career, she has hosted several TV shows, including Entertainment Tonight, as shown on their IMDB profile She has also made appearances on TV shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Weeds and Saved by the Bell: The New Class

Cornett was born in 1971 in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, but grew up in Jacksonville and graduated from Terry Parker High School in 1989 She was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2006

In 1995, she married her husband Mark Steines on the island of Kauai in Hawaii They then divorced in 2013

Jacksonville lifetime resident, experienced reporter and news producer with a passion for classic and exotic cars

Leanza Cornett, Miss America 1993, Mark Steines