NC trooper says he shot sheriff's deputy in self-defense, judge's order shows

RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina state trooper charged with killing a Cumberland County deputy who had previously dated his girlfriend sought release from jail last month, claiming self-defense, according to recently released court documents.

The judge considered that claim and others, but denied Trooper Nekime Oxendine’s request to set bail, ordering him to remain in jail.

The Sept. 9 hearing followed the 44-year-old Oxendine’s arrest on a first-degree murder charge in the March 27 killing of Capt. Adam Bean in Hope Mills, about 70 miles south of Raleigh.

Bean, 42, was the assistant chief of detectives and had worked nearly two decades with the sheriff’s office.

The woman, also a deputy with the sheriff’s office, had dated Bean previously but was in a relationship with Oxendine when he shot Bean in front of her home, search warrants in the case state.

The woman is also the sister of Col. Freddy Johnson Jr., the head of the State Highway Patrol.

The State Highway Patrol’s internal investigation is ongoing, a spokesman has said.

The News & Observer isn’t naming the woman because a sheriff’s office spokesperson described her as a victim of domestic violence when he denied a request for her employment records. The sheriff’s office later provided the information after The N&O again sought the public record.

The N&O has also asked for more information about why the spokesperson described her as a victim of domestic violence, including who allegedly abused her. He has not responded to the question, nor to a related public records request.

‘Man of highest integrity,’ attorney says

On Sept. 9, Oxendine was arrested and appeared before a judge for the first time not as a trooper, but as a first-degree murder defendant.

It doesn’t appear that any media outlets covered the hearing, but the judge’s order, made public eight days later, indicated Oxendine and the woman submitted affidavits supporting an argument that he killed Bean in self-defense.

Oxendine’s attorney, James Payne, told The N&O Friday that Oxendine has served the State Highway Patrol “honorably” for 18 years “without a blemish on his record — ever.”

“Nekime Oxendine is a man of the highest integrity, a peaceful man, and clearly acting within his authority and rights as an American citizen,” Payne wrote in an email.

The judge’s order mentions a review of Oxendine’s motion seeking bail. Typically, attorneys’ motions are publicly available on eCourts, but Cumberland County court clerks told The N&O that they are not aware of any such motion.

Three officers involved in love triangle

Superior Court Judge James Floyd Ammons Jr. denied the request for bail during the hearing and later outlined his decision in a Sept. 16 order.

Ammons said he considered a number of factors, including the “complicated relationship” among the trooper and two deputies.

The woman dated Oxendine from 2022 to 2023, according to four search warrants sought by the State Bureau of Investigation, which is handling the investigation. She then began a long-term relationship with Bean, and the two shared a home. The woman moved out of that home in December 2025 and reconciled with Oxendine.

She then moved into a home on Seattle Slew Lane, where on March 27 Oxendine fatally shot Bean.

Texts between the woman and Oxendine in February and March revealed that Oxendine had concerns about her relationship with Bean, the search warrants state.

“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,” Oxendine stated.

March 27: The day Capt. Adam Bean was killed

On the day of his killing, Bean had asked the woman to come to his home to talk. She initially agreed but later changed her mind and stopped responding to his texts, according to the search warrants.

Around 10:50 p.m. Bean drove to the woman’s Seattle Slew Lane home and sent her a text saying that he was outside her home, the woman told investigators.

The woman went outside to find Bean, irate, sitting in his truck, asking why Oxendine’s truck was at her home.

After Oxendine stepped outside the home, Bean “exited his vehicle and moved aggressively toward Oxendine,” she told investigators, the warrants state.

Oxendine fired two warning shots into the ground, but “Bean continued advancing toward Oxendine,” she told investigators, the warrants state.

The woman heard two or three more shots before she saw Bean take several steps backward and collapse in the front yard.

Judge considered affidavits from Oxendine and the woman

In considering whether to set bail, which is generally more than $500,000 or denied altogether after a first-degree murder charge, Ammons reviewed Oxendine’s claims that he shot Bean in self-defense, the order states.

Oxendine and the woman who witnessed the shooting submitted affidavits supporting the self-defense claim, the order states.

Ammons also weighed Oxendine’s 18 years of community ties and his work with the Highway Patrol.

There’s no evidence of a mental health condition or a prior criminal record, the order states, nor any indication that Oxendine would not appear for court.

Ammons also disclosed that he knew Oxendine, Bean, and the witness through their law-enforcement roles in the community.

Still, the order states, the judge had to apply the same standards that he would to any defendant facing the serious charge of intentionally, and with malice, shooting another officer.

Trained in conflict intervention, use of force

Ammons also considered that those involved were “highly trained law enforcement officers with training relating to conflict intervention, use of force, physical confrontation, and self-defense,” the order states.

“Yet the events at issue nevertheless resulted in the death of a law enforcement officer and the Defendant being charged with First Degree Murder,” Ammons’ order states.

Ammons considered possible release conditions, including a secured bail bond, surrendering firearms and travel documents and house arrest or electronic monitoring.

But he concluded those options would not “adequately address the concerns presented by this case.”

“The Defendant’s Motion to Set a Reasonable Bond is DENIED,” the order states. .

Special prosecutor appointed, appears before 2 grand juries

Court documents, some made public on eCourts after a reporter requested them from the Cumberland County clerk, also reveal how the appointed special prosecutor approached the case with a two-step grand jury process.

The N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, asked by Cumberland officials to handle the case, appointed David Saacks as a special prosecutor, giving him independent authority to decide which charges to pursue, the conference’s executive director, Kimberly Spahos, wrote in an email. Saacks is a former Wake County and Durham prosecutor who now works in private practice.

Saacks took an unusual step for felony cases when he sought direction from a grand jury on whether to pursue the case and, if so, on what charge. Prosecutors sometimes take that approach in controversial cases or when deciding whether to bring charges is a close call.

Nekime Oxendine case: What the grand juries decided

On Aug. 11, information about the case was presented to a Cumberland County grand jury, according to court documents. Jurors were asked to direct a prosecutor to investigate first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter, or to drop the investigation altogether.

The jurors found that the circumstances of the death had been adequately investigated and directed a state prosecutor to seek a first-degree murder indictment against Oxendine from another grand jury.

The second grand jury issued the first-degree murder indictment on Sept. 9. Oxendine was arrested just before 1 p.m., according to court documents. To issue an indictment, the jurors must agree that the evidence meets a low legal threshold that they reasonably believe a crime was committed. Prosecutors are typically successful in seeking indictments because at this level they control the evidence and the instructions on the law.

The prosecutor won’t seek the death penalty in the case, the judge’s bond order states.

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