Man convicted of double murder in Pender County, sentenced to life in prison

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A Pender County jury has convicted a man of killing two people in a 2022 stabbing attack, resulting in two consecutive life prison sentences.

According to the Pender County District Attorney’s Office, a jury on June 3 found Cody Camron Coffield guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Ricky Bullard and Roy Batson.

Judge Quintin McGee sentenced Coffield to two consecutive terms of life in prison.

Prosecutors said the murders happened on Feb. 17, 2022, when Coffield drove to Batson’s property on Watts Landing Road and began stabbing Batson and Bullard multiple times with a knife.

Batson died at the scene. Bullard died in an ambulance while being transported to a hospital. Before he died, Bullard told a witness that “Cody” was responsible for the attack, according to prosecutors.

Authorities said Coffield left the scene after the stabbings and forced Sharona Bettis to drive him away. Bettis later drove Coffield to Stag Road, where he got out of the vehicle and ran into nearby woods.

The escape led to a lengthy manhunt involving multiple law enforcement agencies. Investigators eventually located Coffield in the woods later that evening using a drone and took him into custody without incident.

When Coffield was arrested, authorities said he had blood on his clothing and shoes. Testing by the North Carolina State Crime Laboratory determined the blood contained Bullard’s DNA.

District Attorney Jason W. Smith and Assistant District Attorney Shirley Smircic presented evidence over the course of more than a week. The jury deliberated for just over an hour before returning guilty verdicts on all charges.

“This was a senseless, unprovoked act that resulted in the deaths of two men,” Smith said in a statement. “My office is grateful for the work of the Pender County Sheriff’s Office for the work they did on this case and for the witnesses who came forward to testify so the State could hold Cody Coffield accountable for his actions.”