Smaah Adam

Smaah Adam was a 46 year old chef and mother of six who had rebuilt her life in Spokane, Washington after fleeing violence and war in Egypt more than a decade earlier. She worked at Feast World Kitchen, a nonprofit restaurant that trains and employs immigrant and refugee cooks, where colleagues knew her for a warmth that did not waver even as she worked long hours to raise her children alone.

Adam's death on the evening of October 26, 2026 turned her from a beloved but largely private figure in Spokane's immigrant community into the subject of national news coverage. Police say she was struck by a black Ford Flex while she was getting out of her parked minivan outside her own home, on the 1400 block of North Maxwell Avenue. The vehicle did not stop. One of her sons ran to her and held her as she lay on the ground; she was able to tell him she was okay before losing consciousness. First responders took her to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where she died of blunt force injuries that included a fractured femur, a fractured pelvis, internal bleeding and head trauma.

Her death mattered to people far beyond Spokane because of what it exposed: a hit-and-run that left six children without their mother, a driver who fled the scene, and a wider conversation about safety and bias. Investigators later arrested Eli Hampshire, 30, on suspicion of vehicular homicide, hit-and-run and tampering with evidence, and his girlfriend, Heather Langman, on suspicion of helping him conceal the car afterward. The Washington chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations publicly asked police to investigate whether the killing of Adam, who was Muslim, was motivated by bias, and her family and friends said they had also been confronted with hateful comments about her online.

Feast World Kitchen announced her death to its community, describing her as a woman who had become like family to the staff and volunteers who had also rebuilt their lives as newcomers to the United States. The restaurant's leadership, including co-founder Ross Carper, and former colleagues such as Zubia Roohi Rabeeha spoke of her resilience and her ever-present smile, even during difficult stretches of her life. The restaurant opened a fundraiser to cover funeral costs and to support her six children going forward.

As of early November 2026, the Spokane Police Department and prosecutors were still working through the criminal case against the two people arrested in connection with her death, and advocates were continuing to press for a full accounting of what happened and why. Those who knew Adam have said that whatever the investigation ultimately finds, they want her remembered first as a devoted mother and a steady, generous presence in a restaurant built to welcome people exactly like her.