Imani Smith, who played Young Nala in Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway from 2011-2012, died after being stabbed on December 21, according to the Middlesex, NJ County Prosecutor’s Office. She was 26.
Police in Edison, NJ, responding to a 911, call discovered the actress with stab wounds. Per the Middlesex Prosecutor’s Office, Smith was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Jordan D. Jackson-Small, 35, was arrested in connection with the death. The prosecutor’s office said only that “Smith and Jackson-Small knew each other prior to the incident, thus it was not a random act of violence.” Smith’s aunt, Kira Helper, said in a GoFundeMe post that Jackson-Small was Smith’s boyfriend.
Jackson-Small was arrested “without incident” 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.
The GoFundMe page had a target of $55,000 to support Imani’s parents,” who are “grieving their daughter while stepping in to raise her young son and support their two other children during this traumatic time.” As of this writing, $47,000 had been raised.
Smith is survived by her 3-year-old son, her parents Monique Rance-Helper and Rawni Helper, her aunt and two younger siblings.
