Woman who posed as stranded motorist and killed college student pleads guilty
A woman who lured a couple of college students into a robbery in Alabama by posing as a stranded driver and then shot one of them during a gunfight pleaded guilty to murder Wednesday, officials said.
Yasmine Marie Hider, 21, killed Adam Simjee, 22, in the robbery in Talladega National Forest in August 2022, federal prosecutors in Alabama said.
Hider had pretended to be a stranded motorist who needed a jump-start, and when Simjee and his girlfriend stopped to help, Hider pulled out a gun and ordered them into the woods, the Clay County Sheriff's Office said at the time.
Simjee pulled out his own handgun in self-defense and shot Hider, but Hider fatally shot him, officials said.
Hider faces up to life in prison when she is sentenced Jan. 4, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama said in a statement.
She pleaded guilty to murder, kidnapping and robbery Wednesday.
Hider told investigators that she lived in the woods, according to a statement of facts in the plea agreement.
She was shot four times in the exchange of gunfire, the prosecutors’ office said. FBI agents found her against a tree with three gunshots to the abdomen and one to a leg, according to court documents.
She ordered the couple to empty their pockets and to give her their banking and credit card information and their personal identification numbers during the robbery, according to the statement of facts.
When Hider looked away, Simjee pulled out his own gun and demanded Hider drop her weapon. Hider fired, and Simjee shot back simultaneously, the plea agreement says.
Simjee and his girlfriend were students at the University of Central Florida. His girlfriend was not injured.
They were on a hiking trip and driving through Talladega National Forest looking for waterfalls in Cheaha State Park when the deadly encounter occurred, court documents say.
An attorney listed as representing Hider did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
