Remembering Mackayla “Kash” Paige, the Reality TV Performer Who Had More She Wanted to Do

When loved ones gathered in downtown Oakland to remember Mackayla Paige, her cousin Azima spoke directly to the people who knew her as Kash. She wanted them to know how much their support had meant to her cousin. Kash had earned a following through reality television, but the person Azima was grieving was also a young woman who liked making people happy and was always working toward something. At 29, she still had a future she was trying to build.

Paige was fatally shot in downtown Oakland, California, in the early hours of Sunday, October 11, 2026. Officers responded shortly after 1:30 a.m. and found her wounded on 14th Street. She was taken to a hospital, where she died. By Monday, people who loved her had gathered near the scene. They were still coming to terms with what had happened when reporters asked them to describe who she had been.

To viewers she was Kash, and to the people who loved her she was Mackayla, with plans they hoped to see her fulfill.

The woman her cousin remembered

Azima had been crying since she learned of Paige’s death. When she spoke with CBS News Bay Area, she described feeling shaken and unsure how to make sense of the loss. Yet when the conversation turned to her cousin’s life, she knew what she wanted people to hear. Paige cared about the people who supported her and wanted to bring them happiness. Azima also remembered a woman who kept herself busy and wanted to make changes that would give her a better future.

For viewers, the name Kash was familiar from appearances on reality shows including Real West Coast Baddies and Young & Reckless. Now That’s TV paid tribute to her after her death. A television appearance can be replayed, so fans have a way to return to the moments that made them remember her. Azima’s message added something viewers could only learn from someone close to Paige: Kash noticed the support people gave her, and she appreciated it.

The tribute shared in her memory describes interests that reached beyond reality television. Paige wanted to explore modeling, acting, and makeup artistry. Each would have given her another way to work with the camera or to help create what appeared in front of it. There is a difference between having an idea for the next thing you want to do and getting the time to try it, change your mind, or get better at it. Those ambitions mattered because she was still deciding where they might take her.

Azima’s recollection of a cousin who always had something going on gives those interests a place in the story of Paige’s life. Reality television had already introduced her to an audience. From there, she had room to develop skills, take on a different kind of work, or pursue something her viewers had never seen her do. Her cousin remembered that desire for change as part of who she was. It was one of the things that made her death at 29 so difficult to take in.

At 29, Mackayla was still finding out how far her creativity could take her.

What authorities said about the shooting

Oakland police initially announced that a woman from Richmond had been arrested. Investigators later identified her as Paige’s sister, Vernika Dunbar. Police said Paige and another woman became involved in a physical altercation and alleged that Dunbar approached with a gun in an attempt to intervene. According to investigators, Dunbar tried to strike the other woman with the gun and ended up shooting Paige. Police said surveillance footage corroborated the account Dunbar gave them.

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office filed charges including involuntary manslaughter, assault with a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm in public, and brandishing a firearm in public. Those charges are allegations to be resolved in court. Before police released their fuller account, speculation was already circulating online. Azima asked people to wait for the facts. At the gathering, she was there to remember her cousin and speak to the people who had cared about her.

Saying goodbye to Mackayla

A memorial grew near the site of the shooting. A funeral home later published a memorial page under the name Mackayla C. Paige, inviting people to share their memories. A coworker of Paige’s father, Mack Paige, also started a fundraiser on his behalf to help with funeral and memorial expenses. The organizer wrote about wanting to give the family room to grieve while easing the financial burden of making arrangements.

As those closest to Paige say goodbye, they are facing a loss that will continue long after the first wave of tributes. Her father has lost his daughter. Azima has lost a cousin whose plans she once got to hear about as they were taking shape. Fans who had looked forward to seeing what Kash would do next can revisit her appearances and leave a memory for the family. For those who knew her personally, the stories they choose to share may be about much smaller moments, the kind that never made it onto a screen.

That is what made Azima’s message to fans so personal. She was grieving someone she knew well, and she still took time to tell strangers that their encouragement had reached her cousin. A person who watched Kash on a show might have had no idea she noticed the people cheering her on. Her cousin made sure they heard it from the family, at a moment when it would have been understandable for her to say very little at all.

Mackayla deserved more time with her family and more years to become the woman she wanted to be.

When people remember her, some will think first of the performer they called Kash. Others will think of the young woman Azima described, eager to do something new and determined to build a better life. The memories can sit side by side. Her family knew what it meant to her to find an audience, and they also knew that she was still imagining what might come next. Their grief holds both the life she had already lived and the years they thought they would get to spend with her.

May Mackayla “Kash” Paige rest in peace. May her father, her family, her friends, and everyone mourning her find comfort in the memories they share and strength for the days when they miss her most.

The public memorial notice confirms that a funeral home was handling arrangements. It does not give a burial date, so this tribute leaves the timing of the service open.