Single mom who worked as a chef to support 6 kids clings to life just long enough to tell son 'I'm OK' while dying in his arms after hit-and-run: Cops

A azygous mother of six successful Washington state who worked arsenic a cook was crushed against her minivan by a hit-and-run operator and died successful her son's arms, cops say.

Smaah Adam, 46, clung to beingness conscionable agelong capable to archer her son, "I'm OK," arsenic helium held her successful his arms and watched the Crystal Lake ma crook pale, according to tribunal documents obtained by The Spokesman-Review.

Adam's last words, earlier she was taken to the infirmary and pronounced dead, were reportedly "help me."

"A ma of six kids, gone," said Adam's friend, Maisa Abudayha, successful an interrogation with The Spokesman-Review. "I privation you to consciousness the symptom that those kids consciousness close now," she said astir the operator who was allegedly responsible, Eli Hampshire, who is facing charges of hit-and-run vehicular homicide and tampering with evidence.

"Those kids mislaid their ma due to the fact that of [a] deficiency of responsibility," Abudayha said.

Hampshire and his girlfriend, Heather Langman, were some arrested aft an probe into the clang that killed Adam, according to tribunal documents. Langman is facing a complaint of first-degree transgression assistance aft allegedly helping conceal Hampshire and his car from instrumentality enforcement.

According to police, the mates hid Hampshire's Ford Flex underneath a tarp and made plans to wantonness it down an embankment. They allegedly transported the conveyance successful the backmost of a trailer that was hauled by a pickup truck.

The cover-up began to unravel aft constabulary asked the public to assistance place a dark-colored Ford Flex believed to person been progressive successful the crash, according to tribunal documents. A pistillate who had sold a Ford Flex to Hampshire the time earlier Adam was killed recognized the conveyance and contacted authorities.

The pistillate and her fiance called Langman, who shares a kid with the fiance, and recorded their speech for constabulary aft asking astir what happened.

"Neither 1 of america were driving the vehicle," Langman allegedly said. "You can't archer the cops thing astir it."

When the fiance insisted they were "not taking the deed connected this," Langman allegedly suggested hiding Hampshire's name.

"Don't adjacent accidental who you sold it to, conscionable accidental you sold it to idiosyncratic … Give it a fake sanction for him close now," Langman allegedly said. "I don't cognize who the f— was driving the car. I conscionable cognize there's thing going connected with it and we're getting escaped of the car."

Surveillance footage allegedly shows Hampshire approaching a curve successful the Ford Flex, losing power and past veering onto the roadside where Adam was lasting beside her minivan. Hampshire continued driving without stopping and was aboriginal caught connected video getting retired of the conveyance to inspect the harm 3 minutes aft the crash, according to tribunal documents.

Adam's lad told investigators his parent had opened the driver's-side doorway erstwhile the car deed her. He ran to her and held her arsenic she bled from the backmost of her head.

Adam suffered a fractured femur and pelvis, interior bleeding and caput trauma earlier dying from her injuries.

Hampshire's supervisor astatine a operation institution contacted constabulary aft recognizing the conveyance from the nationalist alert. He told investigators Hampshire had been moving connected the beforehand of his car and repeatedly visiting a dumpster.

A hunt of that dumpster turned up a headlamp from a 2013 achromatic Ford Flex and a portion of chrome trim, according to the tribunal records. Investigators utilized determination accusation obtained done a warrant for Hampshire's telephone to way the conveyance to a distant conception of Stevens County.

The Spokane County Sheriff's Office Air Support Unit located it down an embankment disconnected Buck Creek Road, according to The Spokesman-Review.

Hampshire and Langman appeared earlier a justice Monday. Hampshire was ordered held connected $1 cardinal bond. Langman's enslaved was acceptable astatine $25,000.

According to her friends and family, Adam was an Egyptian migrant who worked arsenic a cook astatine Feast World Kitchen, a nonprofit edifice successful Spokane. The edifice remembered her successful a tribute shared aft her death.

"Your beauteous smile, your kindness, your generous heart, and the emotion you person to everyone astir you volition enactment with america forever," the edifice wrote connected Facebook. "Please support Smaah, her children, and each of america who loved her successful your thoughts and prayers."