Topline
Casey White, the Alabama inmate who allegedly escaped from jail with the help of county corrections officer Vicky White, was charged with felony murder over the jail guard’s death, two months after authorities found her dead of a single gunshot wound to the head after an 11-day manhunt ended in a high-speed police chase.
Photos show inmate Casey White, left, and Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White.
Key Facts
Casey White—who is not related to Vicky White—“caused the death” of the corrections officer, who “died from a gunshot to the head,” Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly said in a statement, according to CNN.
Authorities say the prison guard developed a secret romantic relationship with Casey White while he was in prison awaiting trial in a capital murder case.
The two vanished from Lauderdale County Jail on April 29 and were apprehended on May 9 after a car chase with U.S. Marshalls in Indiana.
After the pair’s car crashed, Casey White surrendered to authorities and Vicky White was brought to the hospital with injuries the U.S. Marshals Service told Forbes looked like a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
An Indiana coroner’s office previously ruled in May that Vicky White died by suicide.
What We Don’t Know
It’s unclear if the new charges mean authorities believe Vicky White’s death was not in fact a suicide. Police say Casey and Vicky White had made a “suicide pact” in which she pledged to kill herself and he said he would die in a shootout with authorities, according to Alabama news outlet WHNT, though Casey White was apprehended without incident. Connolly’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Forbes.
Key Background
Authorities say Vicky White helped Casey White escape from Lauderdale County jail in late April when she arrived to transport him to what she described to be a mental health evaluation. She then left her patrol car at a shopping center and found another car authorities later discovered in Tennessee, leading to a multi-state manhunt. Lauderdale Sheriff Rick Singleton said the pair—who were caught after authorities saw them at a hotel and after they crashed a pickup truck during the police chase—had started to develop a “special relationship” in 2020. According to 911 recordings and incident reports, officers rammed a Cadillac driven by Casey White into a ditch, where the vehicle turned over. Investigators allege Vicky White shot herself after the car crashed. Casey White has also been charged with first-degree escape in connection to the jail break.
Big Number
$25,000. That’s how much authorities were offering in rewards for tips related to Casey White and Vicky White’s capture.
Further Reading
Alabama Fugitive Casey White And Jail Guard Caught After 10-Day Manhunt (Forbes)
Alabama fugitive corrections official Vicky White died of suicide, coroner’s office says (CNN)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/07/12/alabama-fugitive-charged-with-murder-over-death-of-jail-guard-vicky-white/