22-year-old Adam Simjee from Apopka, Florida was fatally shot by a woman who he stopped to help after she posed as a stranded driver in Alabama.
As reported by WBRC, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the student and his girlfriend, 20-year-old Mikayla Paulus, pulled over to help a woman who claimed that her car wouldn’t start on Aug. 14. The couple were students at the University of Central Florida, and were driving through Talladega National Forest when the woman, Yasmine Hider, flagged them down. The woman pulled a gun on the couple, and forced them to walk into the woods. Simjee pulled out his own gun during the incident, and they exchanged gunfire, police said.
Hider was shot multiple times in her torso, while Simjee was shot in the back. Paulus attempted to revive her boyfriend at the scene with CPR, but he died shortly after the shootout. According to authorities, it’s believed that Hider might have been “living off the grid” as part of a community in the national forest described as “armed and potentially violent.” Hider was taken to a nearby hospital and had surgery for her injuries, and is facing charges including murder, two counts of kidnapping, and two counts of robbery.
Paulus informed authorities that a second woman, 36-year-old Krystal Diane Pinkins, was present at the scene but fled after Hider shouted for help. Pinkins was later discovered by authorities near a group of tents approximately half a mile from the scene of the shooting, where she was accompanied by her five-year-old son who was holding a loaded shotgun. Pinkins has since been charged with one count of murder, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of robbery, and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.
In a Facebook post shared on Sunday, Paulus revealed that Simjee was laid to rest. “I have no doubts I'll see him in the next lifetime," she wrote. "He was my soulmate & will always be. Thank you again for all the support, I wouldn't be here without it. Rest in peace baby, I'll carry you with me every single day."
