A former Broadway child actress was appeared in “The Lion King” died on Sunday after she was stabbed at her New Jersey home, according to published reports quoting New Jersey officials.
Imani Dia Smith, 26, was found with stab wounds after authorities responded to a call at her home in Edison, N.J. She was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., where she was pronounced dead.
USA Today reports Jordan Jackson-Small, 35, was arrested soon after without incident. The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said he and Smith “knew each other” and a GoFundMe page identified Jackson-Small as Smith’s boyfriend, according to published reports.
He has been 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. There has been no indication of what led to the stabbing or if others were present at the time.
Smith played Young Nala in the long-running Disney Broadway production from Sept. 27, 2011, to Sept. 23, 2012.
