State Trooper Arrested for Killing Fellow Cop as Love Triangle Turns Deadly

A North Carolina state trooper has been charged with first-degree murder after authorities say a bitter love triangle ended with another law enforcement officer shot dead in a woman’s front yard.

Trooper Nekime Oxendine was indicted Wednesday in the March 27 killing of Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office Captain Adam Bean, 42, outside a home in Hope Mills.

Deputies found Bean lying in the yard with gunshot wounds and blood on his chest and left arm.

The home belonged to a woman who had reportedly been romantically involved with both men.

According to search warrants, the woman first dated Oxendine, an 18-year veteran of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. She later began dating Bean and lived with him until December 2025.

After that relationship ended, she reportedly got back together with Oxendine.

But investigators say Oxendine had been suspicious of her connection to Bean for years.

Text messages from 2022 allegedly show Oxendine repeatedly accusing the woman of talking to Bean.

“I see u have been talking to Adam!!! Best Wishes!!!” he reportedly texted her in July 2022.

He then added, “Better tell that [expletive] to get ready too!!!”

The woman eventually did begin dating Bean, but messages from early 2026 suggest she and Oxendine had reconciled.

Even then, Oxendine allegedly continued questioning her about Bean.

He reportedly asked whether Bean was better looking than he was and accused the sheriff’s captain of still having influence over her.

The woman told Oxendine she wanted to build a future with him, according to the warrants, but he continued questioning whether she might go back to Bean.

Just over a week before the shooting, Oxendine allegedly told her he did not want to end up “back in the same predicament.”

Then came March 27.

Authorities said Bean asked the woman to meet him at his home so they could talk. She initially agreed, but later changed her mind and stopped answering him.

Bean then decided to go to her house instead, even though she reportedly begged him not to come.

When Bean arrived, investigators say he became upset after seeing Oxendine’s truck parked outside.

The woman told authorities that Oxendine then came out of the house carrying a gun.

She said he fired one shot into the ground before firing several more rounds at Bean.

When deputies arrived, the woman was performing CPR on Bean in the front yard.

He died from his injuries.

Bean had worked for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office for nearly 20 years.

Oxendine was placed on administrative leave after the shooting.

He is now being held without bond on a first-degree murder charge and is expected back in court in November.