Alabama Inmate Charged With Murder Of Corrections Officer Who Allegedly Helped Him Escape
Alabama inmate Casey White has been charged with the murder of the Vicky White, the corrections officer who allegedly helped him make a brazen escape in April.
Vicky White died eleven days after the escape — reportedly as a result of suicide — as authorities closed in on the couple in Evansville, Indiana.
Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly announced Tuesday that Casey White is now being held responsible for her death, after a grand jury indicted the 38-year-old for felony murder, according to a statement obtained by Oxygen.com.
“The Felony Murder indictment alleges that during the course of and in furtherance of committing Escape in the First Degree, White caused the death of Vicky White, who died from a gunshot wound to the head,” Connolly said.
Officials previously said that Vicky White died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after the couple’s vehicle crashed into a ditch during a high-speed pursuit with authorities.
The coroner ruled her death a suicide, according to The Associated Press.
Connolly declined to provide any additional details about latest charges against Casey White; however, under Alabama law, someone can be charged with felony murder in the state if are in the process of committing another felonies — including committing or attempting to commit escape — that causes someone’s death, ABC News reports.
The indictment, which was also obtained by Oxygen.com, provided no additional details about the allegations.
Connelly said White was served with the arrest warrant Monday inside Donaldson Prison.
His defense team — including attorneys Marcus Helstowski, Mark McDaniel, Robert Tuten, Nick Lough and Nick Heatherly — told the ABC News in a statement that they plan to file a motion to get a copy of Vicky White’s autopsy.
"After receiving the results of the autopsy, the defense team will file additional motions stating the relief sought," they said, adding that Casey White plans to plead not guilty to the murder charge.
Casey White, who is already serving a 75-year-sentence for a string of crimes in 2015, was moved to the Lauderdale County Detention Center to attend legal proceedings in an outstanding 2015 capital murder case against him when authorities said he meet Vicky White, who had been working as a corrections officer at the jail.
The pair — who were not related to one another — developed a secret romantic relationship and Vicky White allegedly decided to help him escape the jail through her connections as a corrections officer.
(Alabama law classifies sexual contact with an inmate by an employee as custodial sexual misconduct, a class C felony.)
On the morning of April 29, she calmly walked Casey White to her patrol car under the guise that she was taking him to a mental health evaluation at the courthouse before driving to another location, where she had stashed a getaway car.
The couple remained on the run for 11 days before they were spotted by law enforcement officers at an Indiana hotel, sparking the pursuit.
Their vehicle was sent into the ditch after a member of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force used a pit maneuver to try to stop the vehicle, Oxygen.com previously reported. When authorities approached the vehicle moments later, Vicky White had been shot in the head.
Casey White was taken into custody and returned to Alabama.
In addition to the latest charges lodged against him in connection with the escape, Casey White is also still facing murder charges for the 2015 death of Connie Ridgeway.
Tuten confirmed to Oxygen.com last month that Casey White’s family had hired a private legal team to represent him in his various cases.
“We’re going to rebuild the case as the defense from the bottom up and start over like it’s a new case," he said at the time. “Whatever has been done or hasn’t been done in the past is of no consequence, we’re going to start over and build a case from the ground up.”
