HOPE MILLS, N.C. — A North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury on first-degree murder charges in the March 27 shooting death of a Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office captain, prosecutors said, after investigators uncovered years of jealousy and confrontation between two law enforcement officers who had both dated the same woman.
Sgt. Nekime Oxendine, who had served with the State Highway Patrol for 18 years, is accused of fatally shooting Capt. Adam Bean, 42, in the front yard of a Hope Mills home belonging to Tara Whitman — a woman who had been romantically involved with both men at different points in their lives. Bean, a nearly two-decade veteran of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office who served as assistant chief of detectives, died at the scene. The case drew immediate attention because of the law enforcement backgrounds of both men and because Whitman is the sister of Col. Freddy Johnson Jr., the head of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. Oxendine remains held without bond and is next scheduled to appear in court in early November.
Search warrants made public in the case trace the conflict between Oxendine and Bean back to at least 2022. Text messages recovered by investigators showed that Oxendine, while dating Whitman, repeatedly accused her of maintaining a romantic relationship with Bean. In one message from July 2022, Oxendine texted Whitman, “I see u have been talking to Adam!!! Best Wishes!!!” and added, “Better tell that [expletive] to get ready too!!!” according to the warrants. Separately, messages from 2023 showed Bean was also aware of Oxendine. “It does bother me that the trooper continually pops up,” Bean texted Whitman that year, though he said he intended to stay focused on building a future with her. “I want a future with you and a child. So getting the house for us is what I’m doing,” Bean wrote, according to court records. “I cannot control anything other than myself and my actions.”
The timeline outlined in the warrants shows that Whitman eventually ended her relationship with Oxendine and entered a longer-term relationship with Bean, with whom she shared a home on Dottie Circle in Hope Mills. She moved out of that residence in December 2025, about three months before Bean was killed, and reconciled with Oxendine, the warrants state. Text messages from February and March of this year show the reconciliation was uneasy. Oxendine asked Whitman whether Bean was more physically attractive than he was and accused Bean of continuing to hold influence over her. “He can lure u in and out of my life on demand!” Oxendine wrote, according to the warrants. “He led u to betray me once and has the power to do it again!” Whitman responded that she wanted a future with Oxendine, but investigators say his doubts persisted through at least March 18 — roughly one week before the shooting. In those final messages, Oxendine told Whitman he did not want to find himself “back in the same predicament” if she returned to Bean, according to court documents.
On the night of March 27, Bean contacted Whitman and asked to meet at his house to talk after work. She initially agreed, then changed her mind and stopped responding to his messages, the warrants state. Around 10:40 p.m., Bean sent another message saying he was waiting and would come to her instead. “Please don’t,” Whitman responded. Bean replied, “Nope,” and told her to come outside or he would make a scene. Whitman later told investigators she came outside and saw Bean sitting in his truck at the Seattle Slew Lane address. According to what she told investigators, Oxendine then came out of the home armed. Whitman said Oxendine fired one round into the dirt before firing several more times and striking Bean. State Bureau of Investigation agents also found that Whitman had deleted a text message from Bean sent in the hours before the shooting, telling agents she removed it to avoid a conflict with Oxendine, but that she had deleted no messages after the shooting took place.
At 10:52 p.m., Whitman called 911. “We just had somebody get shot,” she told the operator, according to a recording of the call. When the operator asked for more details to ensure responders would be safe, Whitman said, “Everything is secure. The gun is secure. It’s right here.” The call lasted 1 minute and 18 seconds and ended before Whitman answered several follow-up questions from the dispatcher. Two minutes after the call, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Sgt. R. Wolfe arrived at the Seattle Slew Lane address and found Whitman performing CPR on Bean, who was lying on his back in the front yard with blood visible on his chest and left arm, according to the warrants. Bean died from his injuries at the scene. Oxendine was still present in the front yard when deputies arrived. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Cumberland County officials described the incident only as a domestic dispute between two off-duty officers, and a sheriff’s office spokesperson identified Whitman as a victim of domestic violence. She also works for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, according to investigators.
The State Bureau of Investigation handled the criminal investigation, which has since concluded. The SBI turned the case over to the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys, and a grand jury formally indicted Oxendine on Wednesday. The State Highway Patrol placed Oxendine on administrative leave immediately after the March shooting, and he remains on leave pending a separate internal investigation. In a written statement, the Patrol said it “respects the integrity of the judicial process and our system of laws that we all hold dear,” describing the case as “a difficult and tragic event for all involved.” The agency said it had no further comment while the internal review continues. Oxendine is charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for early November, at which point a judge could revisit his bond status.
Bean had served the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office for nearly 20 years and held the rank of captain at the time of his death. He was 42 years old. The shooting took place in Hope Mills, a town of roughly 16,000 residents located about 70 miles south of Raleigh, near Fayetteville. The case drew widespread attention across North Carolina in part because both men killed and accused were sworn law enforcement officers and because Whitman’s family connection to the State Highway Patrol’s top commander added an additional layer of institutional significance. No charges have been filed against Whitman, and she has been treated as a victim in the case by investigators. The precise sequence of events immediately before Bean was shot — including the exact positions of the individuals involved — remains subject to the court process and has not been independently confirmed beyond the statements provided to investigators.
As of Wednesday, Oxendine remains jailed without bond in North Carolina. His murder case is expected to move toward a preliminary hearing in early November, with the internal State Highway Patrol investigation running parallel to the criminal proceedings. Bean’s family has not made public statements through official channels, and no attorney for Oxendine has been publicly identified in court records released so far.
