Local
Berkeley woman charged after Oakland shooting killed reality TV performer Kash
Vernika Dunbar, 38, faces involuntary manslaughter and firearm charges in the fatal shooting of her sister, Mackayla Paige, in downtown Oakland. Prosecutors say the gun discharged during a fight early Sunday; a friend described the shooting as accidental.
A Berkeley woman has been charged in the fatal shooting of her sister, Mackayla Paige, a 29-year-old reality television performer known as Kash, in Oakland early Sunday.
Alameda County prosecutors charged Vernika Dunbar, 38, with involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday, Oct. 13. She also faces charges of assault with a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm in public and brandishing a firearm in public. The charges are allegations; Dunbar has not been convicted.
According to a probable-cause declaration, Dunbar told police she was with Paige and two other people when a confrontation broke out with another group near the 270 block of 14th Street at about 1:35 a.m. Paige was fighting with an unidentified woman, the document says. Dunbar allegedly took a gun from one of her companions and tried to strike the woman with it. The firearm discharged, shooting Paige, according to the declaration.
A friend, Malik Smith, called 911. First responders found Paige with a gunshot wound to the head and took her to a hospital, where she later died.
Smith told local television station KRON that she believed the shooting was accidental and stressed the importance of gun safety. She remembered Paige for “her smile, her laugh, her joy” and said she knew her as a friend, not by her reality-TV name.
Paige appeared on several programs distributed by the Now That’s TV network, including “YNR,” “RoomMHates” and “Now That’s Riot.” The network said after her death that she had become part of its story and that it would cherish her memory.
A memorial was placed near the site of the shooting. The court process will determine the allegations against Dunbar.