He planned her proposal. She plotted his murder. Pair sentenced in Garner killing
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Patee Bell and Howard Covington pleaded guilty in 2023 murder of Antwone Chisholm.
- Text messages revealed Bell planned Chisholm’s killing while accepting proposal trip.
- Judge sentenced Bell and Covington to prison terms exceeding 45 years each.
It’s not often that Wake County Assistant District Attorney Kathryn Pomeroy-Carter is shocked by a homicide case. But the murder of 34-year-old Antwone Chisholm did just that, she told a packed courtroom Monday.
It was in that packed courtroom that Superior Court Judge Paul C. Ridgeway’s voice broke as he gave his condolences to Chisholm’s family.
Those in the courtroom saw the photo of a beaming Chisholm and his new fiancée, Patee Bell, days before she arranged his death at the end of a Glock pistol.
And they saw Chisholm’s mother crumple in tears as she described the dimpled smile that Bell and her codefendant, Howard Covington, took from her life.
Chisholm was killed May 8, 2023, about an hour after returning from a trip to Puerto Rico with Bell, where she’d accepted his proposal. Photos shown to the court Monday displayed the single-story home the couple shared in Garner and the shattered storm door Chisholm burst through after being shot three times.
Bell, 29, pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon last week. Covington, 32, pleaded guilty earlier in June to charges of second-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon.
In a roughly 15-minute presentation, Pomeroy-Carter described the “betrayal” wrought by Bell and Covington.
Bell and Chisholm dated on and off for several years, and her sons became a part of Chisholm’s family, with Chisholm’s mother even raising one of them, Pomeroy-Carter said.
Chisholm flew the couple to Puerto Rico the weekend of May 5, 2023, to propose. A photo showed “Will you marry me?” written on a dessert plate, accompanied by a strawberry.
But as Chisholm was plotting his proposal, Bell was plotting his murder, text messages showed.
Timeline of events
Bell and Covington met around the end of April 2023, with their first text messages taking place April 26, Pomeroy-Carter said. It’s not clear how they met or how the discussion began, but Bell gave Covington a key to the couple’s home and plotted for him to pretend to be breaking in and fatally shoot Chisholm in the process.
The pair first tried to kill Chisholm on May 2, 2023, when Covington attempted to break into the residence, but a neighbor called 911 and Chisholm chased him away, according to Pomeroy-Carter.
“I dont wanna go,” Bell texted Covington the following day about the trip. “That’s why i want it done like yesterday [laughing emoji]”
She told Covington she was unhappy in the relationship, writing, “He thinks [expletive] sweet fr n im just letting him.” And even as she accepted Chisholm’s proposal, Bell was texting Covington, complaining the ring was “chunky,” according to messages shown by Pomeroy-Carter.
From Puerto Rico, Bell instructed Covington via text on how to use the Glock she’d have stashed under her pillow, Pomeroy-Carter said. She told Covington which items to steal from the home, including Chisholm’s jewelry, which she said she wanted her sons to have.
The couple landed at RDU on May 8, 2023, at 12:42 p.m.
Quickly, Bell texted, “Landing now make sure internet is unplugged make sure window not open too much,” according to Pomeroy-Carter’s presentation.
She counted down the minutes to their arrival via text, updating Covington when they were 27 minutes out, 10 minutes out, six minutes out and moments away from the Garner residence.
As they returned home, Bell told Chisholm she needed to run to a nearby Walgreens to buy aloe for a burn; she dropped her fiancé off and drove away, Pomeroy-Carter said. And as Chisholm walked inside, setting down his bag with his passport, Covington burst out of the spare bathroom, fatally wounding him.
The couple’s next-door neighbor heard the shooting through an open window and called 911 at 1:56 p.m., according to Pomeroy-Carter. The Garner police station was a minute away, and officers arrived quickly, but Chisholm couldn’t be saved.
Detectives initially believed Bell, who acted shocked and asked if Chisholm was dead. “I’m just trying to figure out, am I planning a wedding or not?” Bell reportedly asked.
In eight hours of interviews, Bell claimed the intruder must have broken in through a window and said the home had Ring cameras, but they had stopped working before they left for Puerto Rico. She alleged Chisholm sold drugs and theorized that was why he was shot; text messages would later show Bell sold marijuana and pills, Pomeroy-Carter said.
But Walgreens camera footage revealed Bell never looked for aloe, instead wandering around the store and playing on her phone, according to Pomeroy-Carter. A suspicious Garner Police Department detective requested ankle monitor GPS data from the crime scene, which showed Covington was there when Chisholm was killed.
‘My son’s only fault was loving her’
At least 16 of Chisholm’s loved ones were in the courtroom Monday, many wearing yellow and white T-shirts depicting him as an angel in heaven. Family members and friends described the father of six, who they called “Twon,” as a family man aiming for a career in construction.
“My family did not deserve that,” said Chisholm’s younger brother, James Harrison III, in a written statement read by his aunt, Felicia Chisholm. “I did not deserve that. Most importantly, Twon did not deserve that.”
What they couldn’t fathom was why Bell would betray the man who loved her and everyone around him so deeply, loved ones said.
Pomeroy-Carter showed a photo of a smiling Bell and Chisholm, Bell’s hand on Chisholm’s chest to display her new engagement ring. Bell sent it to his family days before his death, she said.
“For what? I really want to know,” sobbed Novella Chisholm, his mother. “My son’s only fault was loving her.”
Ridgeway sentenced Covington to a minimum of 45 years and seven months and a maximum of 55 years and three months in prison. His record will also reflect a plan he shared with his girlfriend from jail to escape prison by pretending to be injured, Ridgeway said.
Bell, meanwhile, will spend a minimum of 48 years and a maximum of 60 years and eight months in prison.
Richard Chisholm, Antwone’s uncle, has been married for more than 30 years, he told the court Monday.
His nephew just wanted that same kind of love, he said.
This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 9:03 AM.
