Casey White, the Alabama inmate whose escape sparked a nationwide manhunt in April, has been charged with the murder of the prison officer who helped him, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
White, 38, has been charged with murder in the death of Vicky White, Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly said in a statement.
“During and in favor of committing first-degree escape, White caused the death of Vicky White, who died of a gunshot wound to the head,” the prosecutor said.
Officials have said Vicky White, 56, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after the car they were in was rammed into a ditch during a police chase in Indiana more than a week after the escape.
Neither the charges nor Connolly’s statement say Casey White shot her. Connolly’s statement said no further information would be released, and he did not answer a request for clarification Tuesday night.
state law seems to show that a person can be charged with felony murder if he or she is guilty certain crimesor flee afterward, and cause someone’s death.
Vicky White, who was assistant director of corrections at the Lauderdale County Jail in northwest Alabama, helped Casey White escape on April 29, officials said.
They are not related, but authorities say Vicki White had been dating Casey White for two years.
Casey White was awaiting trial for the murder of 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway in 2015. He was already serving a 75-year sentence on convictions including robbery and attempted murder when he was charged in 2020 with Ridgeway’s death.
Vicky White, who worked for the sheriff’s office for 25 years, reportedly left prison with Casey White for a mental health evaluation, but investigators later found no such evaluation was planned, Sheriff Rick Singleton said.
Vicky White had filed paperwork to retire, and her last day on the job was the day they both disappeared, he said. Before the couple disappeared, she had sold her house.
They had switched vehicles and stayed at a motel in Evansville, Indiana, more than 200 miles from the prison in Florence, Alabama, officials said.
After the police chase that ended with the couple’s Cadillac in a ditch, Casey White surrendered to police.
There was about $29,000 left in the car, as well as guns, when they were caught, the Vanderburgh County, Indiana sheriff said at the time.
Casey White was previously charged with first-degree breakout after being returned to Alabama from Indiana.