Overview:
• Search warrant affidavits said Adam Bean and Nekime Matu Oxendine both had romantic relationships with Tara Whitman, a sheriff's deputy.
• Bean went to Whitman’s home, and was killed there during a confrontation with Oxendine.
• On Wednesday, Bean was given a Merit Award at the 2026 Public Safety Valor Awards. The awards honor first responders for their service.
A North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper is accused of murder for the shooting death on March 27 of Cumberland County Sheriff’s Capt. Adam David Bean, the State Bureau of Investigation announced on Wednesday.
A Cumberland County grand jury handed up an indictment of first-degree murder on Tuesday against Patrol Sgt. Nekime Matu Oxendine, 44, of the Gray’s Creek community near Hope Mills, court documents said. Oxendine has been on administrative duty since March 28, Patrol Lt. Christopher D. Knox told CityView.
Oxendine is being held without bond following a first appearance on Wednesday before Cumberland County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons. The penalty for first-degree murder in North Carolina is life in prison without parole or death.
Bean was killed at the home of Tara Lynn Whitman on Seattle Slew Lane in the Cypress Lakes Village neighborhood of Gray’s Creek. Search warrants, first reported by The News & Observer, depicted romantic relationships and conflicts between Whitman and Bean, and between Whitman and Oxendine. Whitman is a Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy. Her brother is Col. Freddy Johnson, commander of the Highway Patrol, the N&O reported.
On Wednesday, Bean was posthumously given a Merit Award at the 2026 Public Safety Valor Awards, presented by the Great Fayetteville Chamber to recognize first responders.
“The late Captain Adam Bean was posthumously recognized with the Merit Award for his outstanding service, forward-thinking leadership, initiative, and lasting contributions to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office,” the agency said on Facebook.
Confrontation in the Front Yard
According to the search warrant affidavits dated June 27 from SBI Special Agent Courtney Tyner, Whitman said she had been in a long-term relationship with Oxendine, then a long-term relationship with Bean, and lived with Bean. “Whitman moved out of her shared residence with Bean in December 2025,” Tyner said, and she “had recently resumed a romantic relationship with Oxendine.”
On the night of March 27, Bean and Whitman planned to meet at his home, which also was in Gray’s Creek, to talk, Tyner said, but she changed her mind.
Bean went to Whitman’s house, where he saw Oxendine’s truck parked outside. When Whitman met him outside, “Bean appeared irate and questioned why Oxendine’s vehicle was located at Whitman’s residence,” Tyner said.
Oxendine went outside, and “Bean exited his vehicle and moved aggressively toward Oxendine,” Tyner said.
“According to Whitman, Oxendine fired what she believed were approximately two warning gunshots into the ground; however, Bean continued advancing toward Oxendine,” Tyner wrote. “Whitman said she heard approximately two or three additional gunshots, followed by Bean taking several steps backward and collapsing onto his back in the yard.”
‘He Was Good People’
Bean became a Cumberland County deputy in 2006 and was the assistant chief of detectives when he was killed.
Sheriff Johnathan Morgan declined on Wednesday to comment on the indictment.
In an August interview with CityView, Morgan praised Bean. “I miss Adam. He was good people, very smart,” he said.
Bean had a head for numbers and worked closely with Morgan and other staff to modernize the pay structure for deputies that dated back to 1980, Morgan said. The Sheriff’s Office revised the plan to stem the loss of deputies to better paying jobs at other law enforcement agencies.
The new Career Development Step Plan was approved by the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners in June and should help the Sheriff’s Office recruit and retain deputies, Morgan said.
Oxendine joined the Highway Patrol in April 2008, the Patrol said. He was promoted to sergeant in 2023, and his salary as of 2025 was $99,398.
The Patrol issued a statement on Wednesday about Oxendine’s arrest.
“The North Carolina State Highway Patrol understands that Sgt. Nekime M. Oxendine has been criminally charged,” it said. “The Patrol respects the integrity of the judicial process and our system of laws that we all hold dear. This is a difficult and tragic event for all involved.
“While this criminal investigation has moved forward, the Patrol has been conducting a separate internal investigation. That investigation is continuing and Sgt. Oxendine remains on administrative duty pending the outcome of the internal investigation. The Patrol has no further comment.”
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
