Former child actor has been shot dead.
Gatekeepers News reports that former child actress who starred in the Oscar-nominated 2012 movie Beasts of the Southern Wild was shot and killed in a vehicle on Saturday in New Orleans.
The late Louisiana native Jonshel Alexander, 22, played a supporting role in the acclaimed film that had been shot by director Benh Zeitlin in her home state.
Alexander had been in a vehicle with a man, who has not been named, when she was shot by a male suspect.
She was pronounced dead at the scene and the man drove to a hospital for treatment.
Police are investigating the incident and are working on identifying the suspect. No motive for the murder has been given.
At age 12, Alexander played the character Joy Strong in Beasts of the Southern Wild, a drama filmed near Houma recounting the story of a poor Louisiana bayou community struggling for survival.
The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including best picture.
Director Benh Zeitlin cast Louisiana natives for the lead roles, auditioning more than 4,000 actors before completing the cast.
Shelly Alexander said her daughter charmed the filmmakers and came out on top.
‘She was like, “I’m going to be in this movie,”‘ her mother recalled. ‘They fell in love with Jonshel.’
