Niraj Warikoo

Detroit Free Press

TV reporter who grew up in Dearborn and Livonia dies in Turkey in car accident

Family and employer of journalist with Michigan ties says her death was suspicious

Serena Shim had reported two days before her death she was targeted by Turkish intelligence

Shim worked for Press TV, which is the TV station of Iran’s Islamic government

Growing up in Dearborn and Livonia the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, Serena Shim was known as an energetic girl who cared deeply for the world. She was destined to be a leader, her family members would say.

Shim’s ambitions led her to become a foreign reporter for Press TV, Iran’s government-funded media outlet, reporting from Iraq, Lebanon, Ukraine and Turkey. Young with blonde highlights, she wasn’t afraid to report on controversial stories.

“Her tongue was her weapon,” recalled her younger sister, Fatmeh Shim.

But now the family is mourning the death of Serena Shim, 29, who was killed last week in a car crash in Turkey on her way to her hotel.

A memorial service is being planned for her in coming weeks in a Dearborn mosque. And campaigns calling for justice have circulated on Facebook and Twitter.

The mother of two was killed just two days after she said on air she had been threatened by Turkish intelligence over her reporting on the conflict in Syria. She was in Turkey near the Syria border to cover the intense fighting in Kobani, under siege by ISIS militants.

Family members tell the Free Press they’re concerned that she was targeted because of her reporting, a claim dismissed by Turkish authorities, who blamed the crash on Shim’s speeding driver.

“I think my sister was assassinated,” Fatmeh Shim told the Free Press from Lebanon. “She had been threatened.”

Shim said her sister had called her two days before her death to get advice on whether to go on air with her claim that Turkish intelligence was targeting her. Her sister said she should, and on Oct. 17, Serena Shim said on a Press TV report that Turkish authorities had been questioning others about her, saying that she was a spy.

“I’m very surprised by this accusation,” Shim said on the broadcast. “I am a bit frightened by what they might use against me.”

Shim said she feared being arrested by Turkish intelligence because she had been reporting that Sunni militants were crossing from Turkey into Syria in food relief trucks.

Turkish authorities said, though, that she was killed Oct. 19 in Suruc, Turkey, when a heavy truck collided with her car, which was also carrying her cameraman, Judy Irish.

Irish’s car was “traveling at a very high speed, went out of control, entered my lane and came under my truck,” testified the truck driver, according to a report in the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News. The paper reported the cameraman was the sole culprit.

A governor in the region, Izzettin Kucuk, said the allegations against Turkish intelligence were “completely baseless,” according to a separate report in the Hurriyet Daily News. He added that the allegations were “attempts to put Turkey in a difficult situation.”

A spokesperson for Turkey’s Embassy in the U.S., Fatih Oke, expressed condolences for Shim’s death but did not comment further to the Free Press.

Press TV is an Iranian TV station and often reflects a Shia viewpoint; Shim was of Shia background. Turkey’s ruling government, which is Sunni dominated, has supported Sunni opposition groups in Syria, where Shias generally support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Shim grew up in Dearborn and Livonia, where she attended Clarenceville High School, said family members. After her parents divorced she moved to Lebanon, where she started working at Press TV about seven years ago.

Shim was the breadwinner in her family, traveling to report while her husband stayed at home raising their two children.

“She just wanted to report the truth, to report what was going on,” said a relative, Linda Mroueh.

Shim was buried last week in Lebanon after a funeral attended by hundreds.

“I still can’t believe it happened,” said Fatmeh Shim. “I cannot cry yet. The only thing I can do is get the word out.”

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or 313-223-4792. Follow him on Twitter @nwarikoo