By Virginia Bridges
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N.C. — A North Carolina state trooper was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the killing of a Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy.
A grand jury indicted Sgt. Nekime Oxendine in the March 27 death of Capt. Adam David Bean. Oxendine has worked for the State Highway Patrol for 18 years, according to patrol records. He was placed on administrative leave after the shooting, spokesperson Lt. Chris Knox previously told The News & Observer.
| SPECIAL REPORT: Find the hidden gaps in your agency’s logistics readiness
Bean, 42, the Cumberland Sheriff’s Office assistant chief of detectives, worked for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office for nearly two decades.
Immediately after the shooting, Cumberland County officials released few details, saying only that Bean’s killing stemmed from a domestic dispute between two off-duty officers and that the State Bureau of Investigation was handling the case. A Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said a woman at the center of the dispute was a victim of domestic violence.
The woman, whom The N&O isn’t naming because she is an alleged victim, also works for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. She is also the sister of Col. Freddy Johnson Jr., the head of the State Highway Patrol.
An N&O investigation earlier this year found that the woman appeared to live with Bean at a Dottie Circle address in Hope Mills before moving to the Seattle Slew Lane address, where officials found Bean in the front yard shot. The neighborhood is in Hope Mills, about 70 miles south of Raleigh.
Search warrants outline history among woman, Bean, Oxendine
An interview with the woman and text messages going back to 2022 showed she dated Oxendine first, then entered a long-term relationship with Bean before later reconciling with Oxendine, search warrants in the case state.
Text messages from 2022 and 2023 appear to indicate she and Oxendine were dating during that time and that Oxendine repeatedly “questioned and accused” her of being romantically involved with Bean, the search warrants state. “I see u have been talking to Adam!!! Best Wishes!!!” Oxendine texted the woman in July 2022, one of the warrants states. “Better tell that [expletive] to get ready too!!!”
The investigation showed that the woman also texted Bean about Oxendine in 2023, asking him if he was worried about the trooper.
“I’m really worried about your thoughts on marriage and children more so after last night,” Bean responded, adding that it did bother him that the trooper “continually pops up,” the warrants state. “All I can do is keep doing what I told you I would. I want a future with you and a child. So getting the house for us is what I’m doing,” Bean later texted, the warrant states. “I cannot control anything other than myself and my actions.”
Woman reconciles with trooper
The woman moved out of her shared home with Bean in December 2025, about three months before the deputy was killed, the warrants state.
Texts exchanged between the woman and Oxendine in February and March of this year show that the two had reconciled.
In the texts, Oxendine asked the woman whether Bean was more attractive than he was, accused Bean of continuing to have influence over her, and stated that Bean had “the key to ur heart,” one of the warrants states.
“He can lure u in and out of my life on demand! That’s the Man u miss! No matter how much u tell urself no! He led u to betray me once and has the power to do it again! If he didn’t, u would have been stopped all of this immediately!” the warrants state.
The woman responded by telling Oxendine that she wanted to build a future with him, but the reassurance didn’t appear to address his concerns, as he continued to question her commitment to their relationship, the warrants state.
Oxendine’s concerns about Bean continued through March 18, roughly a week before the shooting, as he challenged the woman about her relationship with Bean and she continued to deny lying or hiding anything, the warrant states.
Oxendine stated he didn’t want to find himself “back in the same predicament” if the woman returned to Bean, the warrant states. SBI agents also found a message involving Bean in the hours before the shooting that the woman had deleted. She told SBI agents that she had deleted a text message from Bean to avoid a conflict with Oxendine but that she hadn’t deleted any messages after the shooting, the warrant states.
Deputy Adam Bean asks to meet with the woman
Before the shooting on March 27, Bean had asked to meet with the woman at his house after work to talk, the woman told investigators.
She agreed, then changed her mind and stopped responding to Bean’s messages, one of the warrants states.
Around 10:40 p.m. the night of the shooting, Bean asked her if she was still coming and said he was waiting in the driveway to have a conversation, the warrant states.
“[Expletive], I’ll come to you,” Bean said.
“Please don’t,” the woman responded.
“Nope,” Bean responded and told the woman to come outside or that he would make a scene by blowing the horn. The woman told police that when she came outside she saw Bean in his truck, according to the warrant. After Oxendine came outside, Bean “exited his vehicle and moved aggressively toward Oxendine,” the woman told investigators, the warrant states. Oxendine shot two warning shots into the ground, but “Bean continued advancing toward Oxendine,” the woman told investigators, the warrant states. The woman heard “two or three additional gunshots” and saw Bean taking several steps backward before collapsing in the front yard, the warrant states. He died in her front yard.
What emergency responders found on the night of Bean’s killing
At 10:52 p.m. the woman called 911.
“We just had somebody get shot,” she said. The operator responded: “We’re going to get some help out there. We need this information so the responders can make sure everyone stays safe.”
“Everything is secure,” the woman said. “The gun is secure. It’s right here.”
The operator was persistent, asking for details five times during the phone call that lasted 1 minute and 18 seconds. The caller hung up before the operator could get answers.
Two minutes later, Sheriff’s Sgt. R. Wolfe arrived at the Seattle Slew Lane address and found the woman performing CPR on Bean, who was on his back in the front yard with blood on his chest and left arm, search warrants state.
Portions of this story were previously published in The N&O.
©2026 Raleigh News & Observer. Visit newsobserver.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.