A Florida college student was shot dead in Alabama while trying to be a good Samaritan for a woman pretending to have car trouble, according to police.
This article contains content that may be upsetting to some of our readers.
Adam Simjee, a 22-year-old University of Central Florida student, was on a road trip with his girlfriend Mikayla Paulus, 20, through the Talladega national forest in Alabama when he noticed a woman in need on the side of the road.
The woman claimed that she was stranded, but when the couple pulled over she pulled a gun and tried to rob them, police told The Guardian and other news outlets.
Authorities say the woman, identified as Yasmine Hider, forced the couple to walk into the woods at gunpoint. However, Simjee had his own gun on him and the two started shooting at each other in woods.
Police say Simjee shot Hider multiple times but she also fatally injured him. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, the Clay County Sheriff's Office told NBC News.
Simjee's girlfriend, Paulus, left the scene without injuries and called 911. She told authorities that there was a second woman with Hider at the time of the gunfight, though that woman fled.
Police say Hider was injured but alive when they found her, and she was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.
Investigators say they found a second suspect, Krystal Diane Pinkins, at a nearby campsite, where authorities were also confronted by a child carrying a gun.
"As officers were ordering the female to the ground, a 5-year-old child ran from the woods holding a loaded shotgun," the sheriff's office said in a statement to NBC News.
"Law enforcement told the child to put the shotgun down; however, the child continued to the female's location before laying the gun on the ground."
Officials say the two women appeared to have been living off the grid.
Both women were arrested and charged with murder, kidnapping and robbery. Pinkins was also charged with child endangerment.
Authorities say the five-year-old belonged to Pinkins, and the child is now with state child welfare officials.
Paulus wrote about the terrifying and tragic experience in an emotional Facebook post on August 14, one day after it happened.
"Yesterday my world ended. my reason for being, my soulmate, my life partner, the future father of my children, died in the middle of a state park in Alabama," began her post. "No words can begin to describe the shock and pain I'm in. we had our entire lives ahead of us."
She describes Simjee as "the best person" she'd ever met, with a "pure soul."
"This is and will be the hardest thing I've ever dealt with. No other scenario could match this pain," continued her post. "I wish I could hold your hand one last time. I'll love you forever, Adam Simjee; thank you for being my hero every day for 4 years, the best 4 years of my life."
