Imani Smith, who once played a young Nala in Disney’s “The Lion King” on Broadway, died on Sunday after she was found with stab wounds at a home, according to the Middlesex County, New Jersey, Prosecutor’s Office.
She “had her whole life ahead of her,” a GoFundMe account set up by Smith’s aunt, Kira Helper, said. “She was a vivacious, loving and fiercely talented person.”
On December 21, just after 9:15 a.m., authorities in Edison, New Jersey, received a 911 call about a stabbing, according to a release.
“Upon their arrival to a residence on Grove Avenue, they discovered Imani Smith, 26, of Edison with stab wounds,” the release said. Smith was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where she was declared dead.
Officials have arrested Jordan D. Jackson-Small, 35, of Edison, in connection with Smith’s death. Authorities said the two knew each other before the incident and described it as “not a random act of violence.”
Smith’s father, Rawni Helper, said in a phone call with CNN Saturday that Jackson-Small is the father of Smith’s 3-year-old son.