Imani Dia Smith, a former child actor who starred in The Lion King on Broadway, was found dead inside a home in Edison, New Jersey, on Sunday. She was 26.

Details on how Smith was found and her boyfriend’s charges

Police responded to a 911 call reporting a stabbing at about 9:18 a.m. Sunday. When officers arrived, they found Smith with stab wounds. She was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where she was pronounced dead, according to a news release from Middlesex County, New Jersey, Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Chief Thomas Bryan of the Edison Police Department.

After an investigation, officials confirmed that Smith’s boyfriend, Jordan D. Jackson-Small, 35, of Edison, was arrested without incident and charged Tuesday in connection with the actor’s death, per the news release.

He was 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, prosecutors said.

Jackson-Small is being held at the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center and awaiting a pre-trial detention hearing.

Smith’s family launches a GoFundMe campaign in her name

“She leaves behind a 3-year-old son, her parents, her two younger siblings, and an extended family, friends, and community who loved her so very much,” Smith’s aunt, Kira Helper, said in a GoFundMe campaign she launched to help cover “immediate and ongoing expenses.”

Those expenses include funeral and memorial costs, crime scene cleanup at Smith’s home, and trauma therapy for her son and family members, as well as time off from work to grieve, provide care and attend legal proceedings. The funds will also help cover legal and administrative costs, as well as ongoing support and care for Imani’s son and her dog, Kuro.

“Imani had her whole life ahead of her. She was a vivacious, loving and fiercely talented person. 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,” the GoFundMe page states.

Smith’s Lion King run and her mother’s entertainment credits as a hairdresser

According to Playbill, Smith played young Nala in the classic Disney hit from Sept. 27, 2011, to Sept. 23, 2012.

Smith’s mother, L. Monique Rance-Helper, works as a hairdresser on Broadway and in TV/film productions. According to her IMDb page, she worked on more than 20 movies and television shows since her career began in 2010, with credits including this year’s The Housemaid, 2022’s Power Book III: Raising Kanan, Smile, The Equalizer and more.

As of Friday, the GoFundMe set up in Smith’s name raised over $66,000 of the $75,000 requested to help her family with expenses.

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