A 21-year-old woman who posed as a stranded motorist in Talladega National Forest and fatally shot a student who stopped to help pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday, the Justice Department said.
Yasmine Marie Hider of Edmond, Okla., admitted to charges of murder, kidnapping and robbery in the August 2022 killing.
Living “off the grid” in the Alabama woods and in need of food, Hider and Krystal Diane Pinkins, 37, of Memphis had hatched a plan to carjack a passerby. When the couple Hider flagged down defended themselves, Hider fired her gun, killing 22-year-old Adam Simjee in front of his girlfriend, Mikayla Paulus, 20, both students from Florida.
Hider is represented by the federal public defender’s office in Alabama’s northern district, which did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.
On Aug. 14, 2022, Simjee and Paulus were on their way to Cheaha State Park when they were flagged down by Hider. The couple was on a hiking trip in their van, and were headed for waterfalls in the state park. Talladega National Forest is east of Birmingham, at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains.
Paulus told police that Hider said she needed help with her broken-down car and led them down a dirt road. The couple tried to jump-start the car, called Paulus’s father for advice and looked at YouTube videos but couldn’t get the car started, according to Hider’s plea agreement, which was signed by Hider and filed in federal court in Birmingham last month.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, Hider got out a gun, then exited the car and pointed the pistol at the couple, ordering them to empty their pockets. Paulus dropped her phone and car keys on the ground, and Simjee told Hider that everything they had was in the van and she could have it.
Hider picked up Paulus’s phone and recorded herself asking them for their credit card numbers and PINs, banking information and phone passwords, according to the plea agreement. Prosecutors recovered the recording, which showed much of what unfolded.
When Hider looked away, Simjee pulled out a pistol that he had put in his waistband before getting out of the van. He ordered Hider to drop her gun. She said, “Are you serious?” and began shooting at him.
Simjee fired back, hitting Hider, but was shot and fell to the ground. Hider, who prosecutors said fired first, then said: “Why did you shoot? It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
Paulus called 911 and began trying to save her boyfriend’s life, but Simjee stopped breathing. He was pronounced dead shortly after paramedics arrived.
When FBI agents arrived, they found Hider sitting against a tree with three gunshot wounds to her abdomen and one to her leg. Hider told them that she lived in the woods and was asking for a ride to get food. She told paramedics that she fired first, according to the plea agreement.
Hider was working with Pinkins, who owned the car and the gun. The car had been broken down for several weeks, Pinkins told investigators, and she had given Hider a gun after the two had decided to carjack someone so they could go get food. Hider also told investigators that she’d planned that day to steal a car from a motorist so they could take it to buy food.
After the shooting, Hider yelled for Pinkins’s help. Pinkins ran away and hid in a campsite, where she was found hours later by law enforcement. Her 5-year-old son ran out with a loaded gun when law enforcement found their “off-the-grid” encampment, local authorities previously said. The child was taken into child-welfare custody.
A federal jury convicted Pinkins last month of murder, robbery and unlawful use of a firearm during a violent crime. Both Pinkins and Hider are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 4. They face maximum sentences of life in prison, but under Hider’s plea agreement, prosecutors will ask for her to be sentenced to 35 years.
When Hider was interviewed by law enforcement officers at the hospital, she asked whether the man had died and said she hadn’t wanted to hurt anybody. “I took his whole life away,” she said, according to the plea agreement.
Yasmine Marie Hider of Edmond, Okla., admitted to charges of murder, kidnapping and robbery in the August 2022 killing.
Living “off the grid” in the Alabama woods and in need of food, Hider and Krystal Diane Pinkins, 37, of Memphis had hatched a plan to carjack a passerby. When the couple Hider flagged down defended themselves, Hider fired her gun, killing 22-year-old Adam Simjee in front of his girlfriend, Mikayla Paulus, 20, both students from Florida.
Hider is represented by the federal public defender’s office in Alabama’s northern district, which did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.
On Aug. 14, 2022, Simjee and Paulus were on their way to Cheaha State Park when they were flagged down by Hider. The couple was on a hiking trip in their van, and were headed for waterfalls in the state park. Talladega National Forest is east of Birmingham, at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains.
Paulus told police that Hider said she needed help with her broken-down car and led them down a dirt road. The couple tried to jump-start the car, called Paulus’s father for advice and looked at YouTube videos but couldn’t get the car started, according to Hider’s plea agreement, which was signed by Hider and filed in federal court in Birmingham last month.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, Hider got out a gun, then exited the car and pointed the pistol at the couple, ordering them to empty their pockets. Paulus dropped her phone and car keys on the ground, and Simjee told Hider that everything they had was in the van and she could have it.
Hider picked up Paulus’s phone and recorded herself asking them for their credit card numbers and PINs, banking information and phone passwords, according to the plea agreement. Prosecutors recovered the recording, which showed much of what unfolded.
When Hider looked away, Simjee pulled out a pistol that he had put in his waistband before getting out of the van. He ordered Hider to drop her gun. She said, “Are you serious?” and began shooting at him.
Simjee fired back, hitting Hider, but was shot and fell to the ground. Hider, who prosecutors said fired first, then said: “Why did you shoot? It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
Paulus called 911 and began trying to save her boyfriend’s life, but Simjee stopped breathing. He was pronounced dead shortly after paramedics arrived.
When FBI agents arrived, they found Hider sitting against a tree with three gunshot wounds to her abdomen and one to her leg. Hider told them that she lived in the woods and was asking for a ride to get food. She told paramedics that she fired first, according to the plea agreement.
Hider was working with Pinkins, who owned the car and the gun. The car had been broken down for several weeks, Pinkins told investigators, and she had given Hider a gun after the two had decided to carjack someone so they could go get food. Hider also told investigators that she’d planned that day to steal a car from a motorist so they could take it to buy food.
After the shooting, Hider yelled for Pinkins’s help. Pinkins ran away and hid in a campsite, where she was found hours later by law enforcement. Her 5-year-old son ran out with a loaded gun when law enforcement found their “off-the-grid” encampment, local authorities previously said. The child was taken into child-welfare custody.
A federal jury convicted Pinkins last month of murder, robbery and unlawful use of a firearm during a violent crime. Both Pinkins and Hider are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 4. They face maximum sentences of life in prison, but under Hider’s plea agreement, prosecutors will ask for her to be sentenced to 35 years.
When Hider was interviewed by law enforcement officers at the hospital, she asked whether the man had died and said she hadn’t wanted to hurt anybody. “I took his whole life away,” she said, according to the plea agreement.
