The mother of slain reality TV personality Mackayla “Kash” Paige has spoken out after her 29-year-old daughter was fatally shot outside a downtown Oakland nightclub; Paige’s sister is now facing charges in the killing.
Paige was shot around 1:30 a.m. on October 11 outside Cave Lounge near 14th and Harrison streets, where she had been attending a birthday party for Bay Area DJ Butta Smoove, according to SFist. In a new interview with TMZ, Paige's mother, Cynthia, said her daughters had spent the day together before the shooting, attending their niece's flag football game and later heading to a motorcycle club, where the sisters sang together and enjoyed the night before tragedy struck.
Cynthia told TMZ she wants the woman she believes instigated the physical altercation with her daughter to be jailed, saying that woman set the deadly chain of events in motion. Oakland police have said Paige was brawling with a woman outside the club when her sister, 38-year-old Vernika Dunbar, intervened, attempting to pistol-whip the woman Paige was fighting when the gun discharged and killed Paige instead.
Surveillance Footage Backs Dunbar's Account
Oakland Police Department investigators said surveillance video corroborated Dunbar's own statement that she grabbed a gun from a member of their group and tried to strike the woman fighting her sister when the weapon went off, according to CBS News. Dunbar waived her rights and spoke directly with officers after her arrest, the station reported. She was booked into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin at 2:40 a.m. that same night, about an hour after the shooting, and jail records indicate she is being held without bail.
Charges Reflect an Unintentional Killing
The Alameda County District Attorney's Office filed four charges against Dunbar on October 13: felony involuntary manslaughter, felony assault with a firearm, felony carrying a loaded firearm in public, and misdemeanor brandishing a firearm in public, per SFGATE. The assault charge relates specifically to Dunbar's alleged attempt to strike the other woman with the gun before it went off.
Under California Penal Code Section 192(b), involuntary manslaughter may involve criminal negligence together with either an unlawful killing during an infraction, misdemeanor, or certain non-inherently dangerous felonies, or a lawful act done unlawfully, according to the Shouse Law Group. It carries a potential sentence of two, three, or four years in jail.
Before Fame, a Streaming Reality Star
Paige had built an online following starring in unscripted streaming series built around high-drama interpersonal conflict, including Real West Coast Baddies on the Nyx Network and Young & Reckless and Room H8z on Now That's TV, per SFist. Those platforms produce shows involving partying, clashing egos, and physical fights.
Paige's death came eight days after another shooting tied to the same reality TV ecosystem rattled the Bay Area. On October 3, 47-year-old security guard Ulysses Tykee Davis was fatally shot outside San Francisco's Warfield Theatre following a Baddies USA event, with a 32-year-old woman later charged with murder in that case, according to SFGATE. The Root noted that the back-to-back shootings have intensified debate over real-world violence surrounding conflict-driven streaming entertainment, with platforms like the Zeus Network and Nyx Network built around physical altercations between cast members.
Family Pleads for Compassion Amid Public Anger
Family, friends, and community members built a sidewalk memorial with candles, stuffed animals, and posters at 14th and Harrison streets in the week following the shooting, SFGATE reported, as relatives and supporters gathered to hold vigils in Paige's memory. On October 15, Kash's father publicly urged people to stop sending Dunbar hateful messages, appealing for compassion while the family grieves, according to AllHipHop. Online commenters had heavily criticized Dunbar after news of the charges broke.
