Warrants outline relationships, tensions before state trooper shot NC sheriff’s deputy

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Newly released search warrants reveal for the first time what witnesses say led a North Carolina state trooper to fatally shoot a Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy during what officials have called a domestic dispute.

Cumberland County Deputy Capt. Adam Bean arrived uninvited at the Hope Mills home of a woman he had previously dated and became angry when he saw Trooper Sgt. Nekime Oxendine’s truck parked outside, the woman told investigators, according to the warrants.

Bean insisted the woman come outside around 10:40 on the evening of March 27, she told investigators, the warrants state. When she and Oxendine came outside, Bean aggressively walked toward Oxendine, who shot him, she told State Bureau of Investigation agents who are investigating the killing.

Oxendine, 44, is a sergeant with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, where he has worked 18 years, according to patrol records. He was placed on administrative duty after the shooting, spokesperson Lt. Chris Knox previously told The News & Observer.

Bean, 42, was the Sheriff’s Office’s assistant chief of detectives and had worked for the Sheriff’s Office for nearly two decades.

The woman at the center of the domestic dispute also works for the Sheriff’s Office and is the sister of Col. Freddy Johnson, the head of the State Highway Patrol.

A Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson initially declined to release her employment records, saying she is a victim of domestic violence. The spokesperson later did release the records but declined to provide additional information about why the woman was considered a victim of domestic violence.

The N&O isn’t naming the woman because she is an alleged victim.

No one has been charged in the shooting, said Chad Flowers, a spokesperson for the SBI.

At 10:52 p.m. March 27, the woman called 911 from her home on Seattle Slew Lane in Hope Mills, about 70 miles south of Raleigh, saying someone had just been shot.

The operator asked for details about the shooting five times during the phone call that lasted 1 minute and 18 seconds, but the woman hung up before the operator could get answers.

The next day, the Cumberland County sheriff announced that Bean was found with a gunshot wound at the home, where he died.

“The preliminary investigation revealed a domestic disturbance occurred between two off-duty law enforcement officers,” Sheriff Johnathan Morgan announced on his Facebook page.

Since then no information has been released to the public beyond four search warrants, including two released last week.

In response to the call, Cumberland Sheriff’s Office Sgt. R. Wolfe drove to Seattle Slew Lane 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, a search warrant states.

Oxendine was also present, and investigators found a handgun and magazine lying in the front yard.

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, the warrants state.

Text messages from 2022 and 2023 appear to indicate the woman and Oxendine were dating then 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. Bean said 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.”

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 warrant states.

The woman responded by telling the trooper that she wanted to build a future with Oxendine, but the reassurance didn’t appear to address his concerns, as he continued to question the woman’s commitment to their relationship, the warrant states.

Oxendine’s concerns about Bean continued through March 18, roughly a week before the shooting, as Oxendine 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.

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 and Oxendine came outside, Bean “exited his vehicle and moved aggressively toward Oxendine,” 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 the woman’s front yard.

When the investigation is complete, the SBI will share its findings with the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys to decide whether to press charges. The Cumberland County district attorney has recused himself.

This story was originally published July 20, 2026 at 2:01 PM with the headline “Warrants outline relationships, tensions before state trooper shot NC sheriff’s deputy.”