It’s with a heavy heart that I report Jonshell Alexander, the child actor who played a supporting role in the 2012 Oscar-nominated film, Beasts of the Southern Wild, was shot and killed in New Orleans on Saturday night.
She was 22.
According to police, Jonshell and a man were shot in a vehicle on North Claiborne Avenue at about 9 p.m.
Paramedics declared Jonshell dead at the scene.
The man drove himself to the hospital.
Jonshell’s mother, Shelly Alexander, remembered her daughter saying:
She brought life to everything.
Jonshell was feisty, jazzy, spoiled. It was her way or no way. Jonshel was like, ‘It’s going to be me.’
Before her death, Jonshell Alexander worked as a hostess in restaurants and devoted her life to her 1-year-old daughter, De-vynne Robinson.
At the age of 12, Jonshell played the role of Joy Strong in the Beasts of the Southern Wild, a drama filmed near Houma recounting the story of a poor Louisiana bayou community struggling for survival.
She is pictured below with Quvenzhane Wallis, who starred in the lead role.
