PENDER COUNTY — A jury has convicted Cody Camron Coffield on two counts of first-degree murder. Judge Quintin McGee sentenced Coffield to two consecutive sentences of life in prison as a result.
Coffield was charged in the Feb. 17, 2022, killings of Ricky Bullard and Roy Batson. After driving to Watts Landing Road, Batson’s property, law enforcement said Coffield stabbed both victims multiple times.
Batson died on scene and Bullard perished in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. In a release from the district attorney’s office, officials said Bullard was able to tell a witness before he passed away that “Cody” did it.
Coffield is said to flee the scene following the crimes and forced Sharona Bettis to drive him to Stag Road. Then the suspected exited the vehicle and took off into the woods, wherein a manhunt ensued by law enforcement. After locating Coffield by drone, officers took him into custody without incident.
Coffield had blood on his clothes and shoes, which was found to contain Bullard’s DNA, per state lab test results. He was prosecuted by District Attorney Jason W. Smith and co-counsel ADA Shirley Smircic.
“This was a senseless, unprovoked act that resulted in the deaths of two men,” Smith said in a release on Thursday, June 3, one day after the jury deliberated for a little more than hour to convict. “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.”
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