A peaceful exploration of Alabama’s Cheaha State Park turned into a fatal nightmare for a University of Central Florida student adventuring with his girlfriend. While they were at the park, the couple—Adam Simjee, 22, and Mikayla Paulus, 20—were approached by Yasmine Hider, who was with a group of people “living off the grid” and asked them for help with car troubles, a release from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said. Hider then ordered them at gunpoint to walk into the woods, where she demanded their banking information. “When she dropped her guard for a second, and lowered her gun for a second, [Simjee] pulled out his gun and told her to get on the ground,’’ Paulus said. “She started messing with her gun and it was jamming but they shot at each other.” “She was shot three times and he was shot once. Her femur was shattered so she couldn’t get away,’’ she added. Paulus was performing CPR on him to no avail when police arrived, officials said. “If he didn’t have his gun, I don’t know if I would have made it,’’ Paulus said in an interview with AL.com. “He really is my hero and that’s exactly something he would do.” Hider has been arrested along with another woman, Krystal Diane Pinkins, who was found with a 5-year-old child that came out of the woods with a loaded shotgun. Simjee’s family has raised over $7,500 for funeral costs via GoFundMe.
