About

Serena Shim [October 10, 1985 – October 19, 2014] was an American journalist for Press TV. While covering the Siege of Kobanê as a war correspondent, she was killed two days after Turkey accused her of spying in a suspicious car crash..

In October 2014, Shim was assigned by Press TV to Turkey on a mission to cover the ISIL conflict. She was based in Suruç,Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey, which is a rural area near the Syrian border.
Accusation of spying by Turkey

On October 17, Shim told Press TV that the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) had accused her of "spying". She stated that it is "probably due to some of the stories she had covered about Turkey's stance on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants in Kobanê". She had reported that ISIL militants being smuggled over the Turkish border into Syria on trucks bearing the symbols of NGOs like the "World Food Organisation". Shim, said on air she's "a bit frightened" by what MİT "might use against me"

Serena died on 19 October 2014 in a car crash on her way back to her hotel. She was returning to Suruç with her driver and camera operator Judy Irish in a rental car when the car collided with a cement mixer. Shim survived the crash, but died of a heart attack after being taken to an undisclosed location. Her co-worker Irish was injured and taken to Suruç State Hospital.

The vehicle driver was subsequently arrested. Press TV disputed this, claiming that both driver and vehicle have disappeared and her death is suspicious.