Tragic news out of New Jersey: former Broadway child actress Imani Dia Smith, known for her role in The Lion King, was found stabbed in her Edison home and later died at the hospital. Her boyfriend, Jordan D. Jackson-Small, has been arrested and charged with murder. The 26-year-old leaves behind a 3-year-old son.
Oh, the theater world's in absolute shock right now—because Imani Dia Smith, the darling who lit up Broadway as Young Nala in The Lion King back in 2011-2012, is gone way too soon at just 26. 💔 According to a press release from Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Edison Police Chief Thomas Bryan, Smith was discovered Sunday in her Edison, N.J., residence with stab wounds that proved fatal. She was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick but was pronounced dead there.
Enter the heartbreak: her boyfriend, 35-year-old Jordan D. Jackson-Small, was arrested on the spot and slapped with heavy charges—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. Messy doesn't even begin to cover it. 😤
A GoFundMe for the family spills that Smith leaves behind her 3-year-old son, tugging at every heartstring. She stole scenes as Young Nala from September 27, 2011, to September 23, 2012, per Playbill—talk about starting young and leaving a legacy. But this? This is the kind of plot twist no one saw coming. Is Broadway's next act calling for justice, or what?