North Carolina trooper charged with murdering sheriff's office captain

A North Carolina state highway patrol sergeant, Nekime Matu Oxendine, 44, has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Cumberland county sheriff's office Capt Adam Bean. A grand jury handed down the indictment on Tuesday, and a judge ordered Oxendine held without bond while the case proceeds.

Bean was shot and killed on 27 March at a home in Hope Mills. According to search warrants obtained by news station WTVD in May, a witness — a Cumberland county sheriff's office employee — told investigators that Bean became upset upon arriving home and spotting Oxendine's truck parked there. Investigators said Oxendine then came outside carrying a gun, fired one shot into the ground, and moments later opened fire again, hitting Bean with multiple shots.

Bean was found lying in the front yard. When police arrived, Tara Lynn Whitman, who reportedly had relationships with both men, was performing CPR on Bean while Oxendine stayed nearby. Bean was pronounced dead at the scene.

Court filings from state investigators point to years of mounting tension tied to the two men's relationships with Whitman, with Oxendine described as having shown persistent jealousy and insecurity over her connection to Bean. Oxendine remains on administrative leave.

Cases in which one law enforcement officer kills another are extremely rare, according to research, and typically involve friendly fire or mistaken identity rather than this kind of dispute.

Bean had served with the Cumberland county sheriff's office for 20 years and is survived by his son, parents and two siblings. He was posthumously honored on Wednesday with a merit award recognizing his service, with the sheriff's office noting on social media that his work helped strengthen the agency's recruitment and retention efforts and contributed to public safety operations across the county.