A reality TV star was shot dead outside an Oakland nightclub, and police say the shot came from her own sister.
Prosecutors have charged Vernika Dunbar, 38, with felony involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of her younger sister, reality television personality Mackayla “Kash” Paige, 29, outside a downtown Oakland, Calif., nightclub early Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office filed the charge and added counts of assault with a firearm and gun violations tied to an attempted pistol-whipping. Police described Paige as a 29-year-old Richmond woman.
A Pistol-Whip That Became a Shot
Police said Dunbar came to her sister’s defense during a brawl outside the club. She tried to pistol-whip a woman who was fighting with Paige, according to the police account. The bullet she fired instead struck her sister and killed her, investigators say.
Reports of a shooting near 14th and Harrison Streets brought officers to the scene about 1:30 a.m., and they found Paige with at least one gunshot wound. Lifesaving measures were attempted, and she was taken to a hospital, where she died.
The Oakland Police Department (OPD) confirmed the arrest of Dunbar, who was taken into custody the same day as the killing. She was booked into Santa Rita Jail early Oct. 11 and is held without bail.
A video posted to TikTok showed a heavy police presence outside Cave Lounge, near the shooting location. Police have not said what started the fight.
Separately, online users are sharing a clip that purports to show Paige in an altercation before her death. Police have not confirmed the circumstances of that footage, and it has not been independently verified.
“She Just Wanted Better for Her Life”
A memorial has grown at the intersection where Paige was shot. Loved ones gathered at the scene near 14th and Harrison Streets on Monday, Oct. 12.
Azima King, Paige’s cousin, said the loss has been difficult to process and described herself as floating and shaking in the hours after the shooting. “She just wanted better for her life. And she wanted to be better. And she wanted to change,” King told ABC7 Eyewitness News on Monday, Oct. 12.
King said Paige’s ambitions stretched well beyond reality television. She urged the public to wait for facts rather than trade rumors online, and said the family has the situation in hand.
Paige’s father, Mack Paige Jr., has also asked the public to show compassion toward Dunbar and to stop turning the family’s loss into social media content, AllHipHop reported on Saturday, Oct. 17. He said his daughter wanted to work as a makeup artist.
The investigation into Paige’s killing remains open. Oakland police asked anyone with information or video related to the shooting to call the homicide section at 510-238-3821.
Who Was Kash?
Paige built her following through appearances on Now That’s TV, a streaming platform whose programming often centers on dramatic, physical confrontations. Her known shows include “Young & Reckless,” “Real West Coast Baddies,” “Room H8z” and “Now That’s Riot.”
The network paid tribute to her on Instagram on Sunday, Oct. 11, and wrote that her memory would live on.
Another Deadly Night Tied to Reality TV
A gunman killed Ulysses Tykee Davis, 47, a security guard and father of six, outside San Francisco’s Warfield Theater on Oct. 3. The shooting followed an event associated with “Baddies USA,” a series on the separate Zeus Network. In Davis’ death, prosecutors charged Shakia Vanderbilt, 32, with murder. Nothing links the two shootings.
The two cases have renewed scrutiny of reality programs built around physical altercations. Some social media users want the shows canceled. Dr. Donnetrice Allison chairs the Africana Studies Department at Stockton University in New Jersey, and her research over many years has looked at how Black women are portrayed on reality television. The chase for online attention, she said, can push participants toward increasingly extreme behavior.
Allison questioned the common defense of the genre. “People say ‘It’s harmless entertainment.’ I really don’t think it’s that,” she said. She raised concerns about the role producers play in encouraging confrontations, and about on-screen conduct shaping behavior off of it.
