Overview
- Police responded to a 911 report of a stabbing on December 21 in Edison, New Jersey, where Imani Smith was found with stab wounds and later pronounced dead at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.
- On December 23, investigators arrested Jordan D. Jackson-Small, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder, endangering a minor, and illegal weapon possession.
- Officials say Smith and Jackson-Small knew each other before the incident and do not consider the killing a random act, with the investigation continuing.
- Smith gained early acclaim on Broadway as young Nala in The Lion King during the 2011–2012 run.
- Her aunt, Kira Helper, created a GoFundMe to support funeral and legal expenses as well as care for Smith’s three-year-old son.