A former Broadway child star who “had her whole life ahead of her” was stabbed to death by her boyfriend in a New Jersey home over the weekend, according to officials and the victim’s devastated family.
Imani Smith, 26 — who played Young Nala in the hit musical “The Lion King” between 2011 and 2012 — was senselessly butchered by beau Jordan D Jackson Small on Sunday, Middlesex County authoritiesand her kin alleged.
Police were called to the Edison home on Grove Avenue around 9:18 a.m., where they found Smith with multiple stab wounds. The young mom was rushed to a local hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Jackson Small, 35, was arrested and charged with murder, endangering the welfare of a child and weapons possession, prosecutors said.
He is being held at the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center before he appears in front of a judge, according to officials.
Smith’s grieving family was left reeling just days before Christmas, they said on a heartbreaking GoFundMe page.
“Imani had her whole life ahead of her. She was vivacious, loving and a fiercely talented person,” her aunt, Kira Helper, wrote.
“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.”
Small leaves behind a 3-year-old son who will now be raised by her grief-stricken parents, Helper said.
They “are now facing the unimaginable: grieving their daughter while stepping in to raise her young son and support their two children during this traumatic time.”
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