BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — More than a year after a Florida college student was shot and killed trying to protect his girlfriend and himself in the Alabama wilderness, a woman was convicted of his death.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said 37-year-old Krystal Pinkins of Memphis, Tennessee, was convicted of murder, robbery and unlawful use of a firearm in the August 2022 death of 22-year-old Adam Simjee.
On Aug. 14, 2022, Simjee and his girlfriend, Mikayla Paulus, were exploring the Talladega National Forest near popular Cheaha State Park in east Alabama. They were on their way to the state park in order to hike and see the waterfalls in the area.
The couple was driving on a National Forest Service road when 21-year-old Yasmine Hider flagged them down and asked for help to "jump start" Pinkins' car, which had broken down. The woman then pulled out a gun and ordered them into the woods, the Clay County Sheriff's Office said at the time, and Simjee produced a weapon he was carrying.
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“Adam pulled out his gun and told her to get on the ground and that’s when she started messing around with her gun. It jammed once but they both shot at each other and she was shot a few times and he was shot only once,” Paulus told WBMA-TV at the time.
According to the DOJ, evidence proved Pinkins aided Hider in committing these crimes by providing the gun, planning the robbery and watching in the woods nearby as the robbery and murder happened. Pinkins left the area after the shooting, the DOJ said.
Simjee died despite the efforts of Paulus, who was performing CPR on him when authorities arrived, a statement from the sheriff's office said. She was not injured.
Hider was hurt in the shooting exchange and was taken into custody and to the hospital for treatment.
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Hours later, authorities using a dog tracking team and a state police helicopter found a camp where they saw Pinkins, whose 5-year-old son ran from the woods with a loaded shotgun as officers were arresting her, sheriff’s officials said.
No more shots were fired, and Pinkins was taken to the Clay County jail. Her son was taken by child welfare workers, and Pinkins was charged with endangering the welfare of a child in addition to the other counts.
The women may have been living “off the grid” in the National Forest, the sheriff’s statement said, and forestry workers dismantled their camp.
“I lost the love of my life,’’ Paulus told AL.com. “This will be with me forever.”
Simjee and Paulus were getting ready to begin the school year at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, she told the news site. “We were starting school on Monday, so we wanted to do one last road trip,’’ she said.
Pinkins faces the possibility of life in prison. A sentencing date has not been posted. Hider is expected to plead guilty on Oct. 4 to a judge for her crimes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
