OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) -- The father of a 29-year-old reality TV personality fatally shot in Oakland is speaking out, asking the public to remember his daughter for who she was beyond her on-screen persona as her sister faces involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with her death.
Watch the full report from KRON4's Lindsey Ford in the video player above.
Mack Paige Jr. told KRON4 he wants to set the record straight about his daughter, Mackayla Paige, also known as Kash, and push back against social media speculation surrounding the fatal shooting.
Paige said he was in Las Vegas when he received a call from Mackayla’s mother early Sunday morning informing him that his daughter had been shot.
“Then it rang again … maybe the fourth call. I answered it, and when I answered it, she said, ‘Mack … Mackayla got shot in the head,’” Paige recalled. “I just automatically went numb.”
Paige said he sat on the edge of his bed in silence as he tried to process the news. His wife then contacted Mackayla’s mother to make arrangements to travel to Oakland.
“It’s just been hard,” Paige said. “I dealt with the death of my brother five years ago, but this is my daughter. This is my baby.”
He said the grief has affected his ability to eat and that he knows the pain will not disappear quickly.
Mackayla Paige gained recognition as a reality TV personality on the streaming network Now That’s TV. She appeared on several shows, including “Young and Reckless,” “Roommates” and “Real West Coast Baddies.”
Mackayla Paige, photo courtesy of family.
Her father said he believes the public often saw only her reality TV persona rather than the person he knew.
“People did know Mackayla Kertisha Paige. All they knew was ‘Kash,’ what they see on the Baddies … and that was kind of the downfall,” he said.
Paige said his daughter was ready to step away from the spotlight and pursue her interest in makeup artistry.
He said Mackayla had been planning to move back to the Las Vegas area, and her aunt, Brittany Paige, had taken over the lease on her Hayward apartment a few weeks earlier.
According to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, Mackayla's sister, Vernika Dunbar, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting.
Dunbar told police she was trying to strike another woman with a gun when it discharged, hitting Mackayla, according to the account provided in the interview.
Paige said he does not want anger to define his family’s response to the tragedy. He said he recently spoke with Dunbar and considers her like a daughter.
“I hate that it was an unfortunate tragedy,” he said. “Anger has nowhere and no place in my heart, in none of my family’s heart, even for her sister Vernika. I literally talked to her today.”
He urged people to stop sending Dunbar hateful messages and posting attacks against her online.
“She’s dealing with a lot,” Paige said.
A memorial for Mackayla Paige set up in the area of the shooting.
Paige also expressed frustration with social media posts and interviews from people he says did not know his daughter, particularly those making claims about the circumstances surrounding her death.
He questioned why people who may have witnessed events that night did not intervene when Mackayla was on the ground.
Paige said his daughter had previously told him that people sometimes confronted or threatened her in public because of her reality TV persona.
He believes some people sought attention by provoking her, knowing that others might record the encounters.
“It’s about fighting and drama,” Paige said of reality TV. “So when they see her, they want to get clout off my baby. They want to start fights with her because, you know, it’s going to be someone recording.”
The family is asking for privacy as they grieve and appreciates the support, Paige said, although they may not be able to respond to messages during this time.
He described Mackayla as bubbly and loving and said he wants people to understand that her life was about much more than television.
“She’s human. She’s not no storyline on the Baddies,” Paige said. “This is somebody’s daughter, somebody’s sister, somebody’s aunty, somebody’s niece, somebody’s granddaughter.”
Paige said he hopes the public will remember his daughter as a person rather than reduce her life and death to social media content.
