He terrorized a Durham mother for 2 years. Now, he’s convicted of killing her.
Nicole Bullock did everything she was supposed to do to try to save her life.
She filed two domestic violence protective orders. She called the police at least three different times when her abuser broke into her Durham apartment and beat her in front of their children. She told her family what was going on.
But none of those things kept Rodney Crawford from ending Bullock’s life on March 5, 2023. She was 29 years old.
On Wednesday a Durham County jury found Crawford, 35, guilty of first-degree murder. He will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Could Bullock’s life have been saved?
Here’s what court documents show.
A pattern of violence
March 5, 2023, was not the first time Crawford had put his hands around Bullock’s neck, according to court records.
It’s not clear when the two met, but their relationship deteriorated around May 2021, a search warrant in the murder case states.
Crawford was no stranger to domestic violence allegations. He’d been accused in New Jersey in 2014 of beating his ex-girlfriend as her infant lay next to her, The News & Observer previously reported.
Crawford was first charged with assaulting Bullock in May 2021, after he beat her so badly she bled from her eye in front of their 2-week-old baby, according to court documents. In that instance, he had broken into her Cornwallis Road apartment at night and strangled her, arrest warrants state.
Domestic violence experts have pointed to the danger that even one instance of strangulation indicates. One study found that 43% of homicide cases studied included at least one prior incident of non-fatal strangulation.
Crawford was released from custody on $5,000 secured bail and ordered not to contact Bullock. Nine months later, he broke into her apartment again, cutting off her hair, choking her and beating her, according to the arrest warrant.
This time, he was held on $50,000 secured bail and remained in jail until he pleaded guilty in July 2022 to charges of assault by strangulation and assault inflicting serious injury with a minor present, court records show. A slew of other charges in the May 2021 and February 2022 assaults were dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea.
But Crawford was given a suspended sentence by Judge Josephine K. Davis, who ordered him to serve 18 months of supervised probation instead. He also had to complete an abuser treatment program and get evaluations for mental illness and substance abuse, and he was not to contact Bullock.
It took Crawford less than four months to violate the terms of his probation.
Court records show he was charged with violating a domestic violence protective order Nov. 3, 2022, and given $1,500 secured bail. He was arrested again five days later on the probation violation and given $10,000 secured bail, but a judge dismissed the probation violation charge the next month.
Less than a month later, Crawford was again arrested for violating his probation, this time for failing to complete the mental health evaluation, breaking into Bullock’s apartment, failing to pay his attorney fees and being discharged from the abuser treatment program and failing to re-enroll.
Crawford was ordered held on $25,000 secured bail, but a judge reduced that to an unsecured bond nine days later, and he was sent home on electronic house arrest, according to court documents.
Less than two months later, he strangled Bullock to death in a Durham hotel room.
‘The system failed her’
Crawford called 911 just after 8 a.m. March 5, 2023, to report Bullock wasn’t breathing, then hung up on the operator, according to a search warrant.
Bullock had been dead long enough that she was already stiff when first responders arrived, the warrant states. Paramedics reported she had visible swelling around her eyes.
Crawford told police Bullock had asked him to come over and that they had started to “tussle” after arguing over a cellphone, according to the search warrant. Officers could see scratches near Crawford’s eyes and ears.
“I feel like the system failed her and her boys,” Bullock’s sister told ABC11, The N&O’s newsgathering partner, days after her death.
A Gofundme raised $21,195 for Bullock’s five boys, who ABC11 reported will be cared for by her sister.
Two years later, after watching Crawford’s sentencing Wednesday, her niece told WRAL that she hoped her aunt’s death would spark positive change.
“It’s a stepping stone for the system to step up and be better,” she said.
Help is available from the National Domestic Violence Hotline day or night at 1-800-799-7233 or TTY at 1-800-787-3224.
NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com
This story was originally published May 28, 2025 at 6:45 PM.
