A North Carolina state trooper has been indicted on first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of a fellow law enforcement officer.
Sgt. Nekime Oxendine, a longtime member of the State Highway Patrol, was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday for the March 27 killing of Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Adam Bean, 42, outside a Hope Mills home. Bean had spent nearly two decades with the sheriff’s department before he was gunned down in the front yard of a woman who had been romantically involved with both men.
The woman, who also works for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and is not being named because she is a domestic violence victim, desperately tried to perform CPR on Bean when deputies arrived at the scene. He later succumbed to his injuries.
Text messages spanning 2022 and 2023, obtained through search warrants by the News & Observer, revealed a volatile romantic history between the three individuals. The woman had dated Oxendine before entering a long-term relationship with Bean, with whom she lived until December 2025 — just three months before the fatal confrontation.
The messages showed Oxendine repeatedly questioned and accused her of having a relationship with Bean even while they were together. In July 2022, Oxendine texted her:
“I see u have been talking to Adam!!! Best Wishes!!! Better tell that [expletive] to get ready too!!!”
She later reconciled with Oxendine in February and March of this year, according to the texts. During this period, Oxendine asked whether Bean was more attractive than he was and accused her of still having “the key” to her heart. The woman told Oxendine she wanted to build a future with him, but he continued questioning her commitment up until a week before the shooting.
The deadly confrontation unfolded after Bean asked the woman to meet him at his house after work to talk. Though she initially agreed, she changed her mind and stopped responding. Bean then decided to come to her home anyway, despite her pleas for him not to. He arrived and demanded she come outside, threatening to blow his car horn and make a scene if she refused.
The woman went outside, and Oxendine followed. Bean hopped out of his vehicle and “move aggressively” toward the trooper, according to a warrant. Oxendine fired two rounds into the ground, but Bean kept walking toward him. Oxendine then fired several shots at Bean, causing him to collapse.
Oxendine was placed on administrative leave and is being held without bail.
“The Patrol respects the integrity of the judicial process and our system of laws that we all hold dear. This is a difficult and tragic event for all involved. While this criminal investigation has moved forward, the Patrol has been conducting a separate internal investigation,” the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said in a statement to WRAL.
“That investigation is continuing and Sgt. Oxendine remains on administrative duty pending the outcome of the internal investigation,” the agency added.
The case stems from a years-long romantic entanglement that turned deadly when Oxendine allegedly opened fire on his colleague in late March. The shooting occurred in a residential front yard after tensions between the two men, both of whom had been romantically linked to the same woman, escalated into violence. The woman had attempted to de-escalate by refusing to engage with Bean, but his decision to come to her home and force a confrontation set off the chain of events that ended with her performing CPR on a dying officer in her own yard.
Oxendine is slated to return to court in November.
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