Yasmine Hider (Clay County Sheriff’s Office), Adam Simjee and Mikayla Paulus (GoFundMe)
A woman who admittedly faked car trouble and murdered a Florida college student who tried to help her in Alabama’s Talladega National Forest formally pleaded guilty in court on Wednesday, meaning she’ll face 35 years in prison when she’s sentenced next year.
Yasmine Marie Adel Hider, a 21-year-old from Oklahoma, shot and killed 22-year-old Adam Simjee on Aug. 14, 2022, during a robbery in Cheaha State Park, located in Talladega National Forest. Simjee was hiking that day with his girlfriend Mikayla Paulus, a fellow college student at the University of Central Florida.
Court records show that U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama accepted Hider’s plea, adjudged her guilty, and remanded her into the custody of U.S. Marshals until she’s sentenced at 9 a.m. on Jan. 4, 2024.
Hider previously agreed to serve three-and-a-half decades behind bars as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
According to court documents, Mikayla Paulus identified Hider as Adam Simjee’s killer after authorities received a 911 call about the shooting in the woods.
“Upon arrival, agents observed a white male victim, Victim #1, lying dead from one gunshot wound to the abdomen. The killer, Yasmine Marie Adel HIDER, a black female, was seated several feet away against a fallen pine tree with four gun-shot wounds, three to the abdomen and one to the upper right leg,” the plea agreement said. “Victim #1’s girlfriend, a white female, Victim #2, had witnessed the crime and was being comforted by responding officers. Victim #2 pointed at HIDER and told the responding officers, ‘she shot him.””
Investigators said that an agent’s body cam was recording when Hider acknowledged at the scene that she was going to go to prison. She was already asking how long her time behind bars would be.
“HIDER stated to the responding officers that she and her family lived in the woods, and she was asking for a ride to get food. HIDER asked the officers, ‘I’m going to do time, right? I just want to know how much time?’” documents said. “This was recorded by the agent’s body cam.”
Mikayla Paulus told investigators that that she and Simjee were “traveling and sleeping in Victim #1’s 2010 white Chevrolet Uplander van” and “looking for waterfalls in Cheaha State Park, when HIDER flagged the couple down and said she needed help with her broken down vehicle, a blue XB Scion, which was located about an eighth of a mile away.”
“Victim #1 and Victim #2 followed HIDER down a dirt road to the Scion,” the plea agreement said.
Unbeknownst to the victims, Hider and another woman were using the broken down vehicle claim as a ruse to rob them. As Simjee tried to jump start the vehicle, Hider pulled out a gun and ordered the victims to “empty their pockets and to walk further into the woods.”
Simjee was also armed with a gun, however, and he pulled the firearm in self-defense.
Hider blamed the victim immediately for trying to defend himself and his girlfriend, telling Simjee, “Are you serious?”
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“She cocked her gun and started firing, and Victim # 1 returned fire simultaneously while falling to the ground,” court documents said. “While on the ground, Victim #1 said, ‘You shot me,’ and fired one last time at HIDER. After the shooting stopped, HIDER said, ‘Why did you shoot? It wasn’t supposed to be like this.’”
Tragically, Adam Simjee died a short time later.
Authorities said that Hider incriminated herself and her friend when she was interviewed five days later at the hospital, saying, “I took his whole life away”:
On August 19, 2022, at UAB Hospital, agents interviewed HIDER, who was advised of her Miranda rights. After HIDER waived her rights, she stated she was waiting on the side of the road to get someone to stop so they could take a car to go get food. HIDER also stated PINKINS was with her when she got shot. HIDER asked agents, “Did he die?” and stated, “I didn’t want to hurt anybody.” Additionally, HIDER stated, “I took his whole life away; now he can’t tell his story.”
Indeed, Hider wasn’t the only person to blame for the senseless murder.
Hider’s co-defendant and friend Krystal Diane Pinkins, a 37-year-old from Memphis, Tennessee, was found guilty by a jury on Sept. 29 of robbery, unlawful use of a firearm during a crime of violence, and murder, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama announced.
Authorities said that Pinkins was found a short distance away from the crime scene at a “base camp” of tents. Pinkins had asked Hider “What do you want me to do?” before she ran off into the woods.
When investigators found Pinkins, her 5-year-old son reportedly ran out of a wooded area wielding a loaded shotgun. The child put the weapon down after reaching his mother and she was arrested, authorities said.
Hider testified at Pinkins’ trial in late September. The proceedings lasted just four days.
Pinkins faces up to life in prison when she is sentenced at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 4, 2024.
Krystal Pinkins (Clay County Sheriff’s Office)
“The victims of this terrible crime were simply being Good Samaritans,” FBI special agent in charge Carlton Peeples said after Pinkins’ conviction. “Today’s verdict sends a strong message that individuals who commit these crimes will be held accountable for their actions.”
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
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