CLAY COUNTY, FLORIDA: An Oklahoma woman, who was facing charges related to the fatal shooting of a Florida college student hiking with his girlfriend in Alabama’s woods more than a year ago, has agreed to spend more than 30 years in prison as part of a plea agreement with the government.
Yasmine Marie Adel Hider, 21, confessed to the abduction and murder of 22-year-old Adam Simjee on August 14, 2022, during a robbery in Cheaha State Park.
The victim was hiking that day with his girlfriend Mikayla Paulus who is a fellow college student at the University of Central Florida.
What did the plea agreement state?
According to Law and Crime, Hider has agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Simjee, kidnapping Paulus but not resulting in death, and robbery as part of the deal. A fourth count was dismissed.
According to the agreed upon facts of the case, the authorities arrived at the scene of the crime after receiving a 911 call about a shooting in the woods. There, Mikayla Paulus identified Hider as Adam Simjee’s killer.
“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 stated.
“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," the agreement added.
Yasmine Hider was already asking about her prison time when authorities questioned her
When the authorities started to talk to Hider, she was already asking how much prison time she was going to serve.
“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?'” the plea agreement stated. “This was recorded by the agent’s body can," it added.
Mikayla Paulus told investigators 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 Hiderdown a dirt road to the Scion,” the plea agreement said.
Simjee and Paulus tried to help someone they thought was in need, but the former also had a pistol in his waistband in case Hider was, in fact, plotting to rob them, court docs said.
“Victim #1 tried using his jumper-cables, but the Scion would not start. Victim #2 called her father, who was a mechanic, for some advice. Victim #2’s father sent some YouTube videos, and Victim #2 searched for others on her phone that might be helpful. Still, Victim #1 and Victim #2 could not get the Scion to start,” the agreement further stated.
The defendant suddenly pulled a gun and ordered the victims to “empty their pockets and to walk further into the woods.”
Simjee, still armed but unbeknownst to Hider, said “everything we have is in the van, and you can have it.” Then he pulled his gun and a shootout ensued.
The defendant’s friend and co-defendant Krystal Diane Pinkins, a now 37-year-old from Tennessee, was allegedly nearby and asked Hider, “What do you want me to do?” before escaping into the woods.
Adam Simjee died a short time later, despite Paulus’ efforts to save his life.
“While Victim #2 was on the phone with 911, Victim # 1 began losing consciousness. The emergency operator advised Victim #2 to apply pressure with a cloth and begin chest compressions if Victim # 1 stopped breathing,” court documents said.
“A distraught Victim #2 removed her shirt to use as the cloth and started chest compressions when Victim # 1 stopped breathing,” the documents added.
