Imani Smith, the former child actor who starred in Broadway‘s The Lion King, has died.
Officers from the Edison Police Department found Smith with stab wounds on Sunday. She was transported to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead, per a press release from Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Chief Thomas Bryan of the Edison Police Department.
The release further detailed that Jordan D. Jackson-Small has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder, second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon tied to her death. “Smith and Jackson-Small knew each other prior to the incident, thus it was not a random act of violence,” the release added.
Smith starred as a Young Nala in the Broadway show based on the beloved Disney film from Sept. 2011-2012.
Kira Helper, Smith’s aunt, organized a GoFundMe, where she wrote that the actress was “senselessly killed by her boyfriend.”
“Imani had her whole life ahead of her. She was a vivacious, loving and fiercely talented person,” Helper wrote on the fundraiser page. “A true triple-threat performer, she most notably played the role of Young Nala on Broadway in Disney’s Lion King — an experience that reflected the joy, creativity, and light she put into the world.”
Helper explained that the GoFundMe was organized to “support Imani’s parents, Monique Rance-Helper and Rawni Helper, who are now facing the unimaginable: grieving their daughter while stepping in to raise her young son and support their two other children during this traumatic time.”
Smith is survived by her three-year-old son; her parents, Monique Rance-Helper and Rawni Helper; and two younger siblings.
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