Authorities Launch New Probe Into 2008 Death Of Casey White's Former Girlfriend
Casey White’s time on the run has come to end, but Alabama authorities are now taking a new look at the 2008 death of his former girlfriend.
The Limestone County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed to WAAY-TV that they are re-examining the 2008 death of Christy Shelton, after the intense media attention surrounding White’s brazen escape from jail last month sparked new interest in the case.
Shelton died February 1, 2008 from a sawed-off shotgun wound to the chest, Huntsville-based television station WZDX reports.
Her death was ruled a suicide, but Shelton’s family has never believed the 31-year-old mother took her own life and said that White—who was dating Shelton at the time—had been with her the night she died.
Casey White Photo: Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office
“Casey White was with my mom the night that she committed suicide,” Shelton’s daughter Somer Mitchell said in the video sent to WHNT. “Nothing was really done. I don’t think they took him in for questioning. So maybe this video will fall into the right hands of someone that can actually make a difference or look into it more maybe investigate. I’m not really sure.”
Law enforcement said at the time that White had been at the Lexington home where Shelton died, but he was ruled out as a suspect in the case.
Shelton’s daughter also spoke to WZDK about the family’s need for “closure,” although she was never identified by name.
“No one’s ever really stood up for my mom,” she said.
Despite the coroner’s ruling that Shelton took her own life, her daughter believes that she was a fighter and would have never given up on life that easily.
She’s hoping that White will provide authorities with more details about what happened the night Shelton died and give her family the peace they’ve sought for more than a decade.
White made national headlines when he escaped from the Lauderdale County Detention Center on April 29 with the help of corrections officer Vicky White.
The pair who were said to have been in a “special relationship” went on the run for 11 days, switching vehicles and making their way north until U.S. Marshals spotted Vicky White coming out of an Indiana motel on Monday and getting into a Cadillac with Casey White, according to CNN.
Authorities pursued the pair until a member of the U.S. Marshals task force struck the Cadillac, causing it to roll over and come to a stop.
Vicky White died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound before authorities could close in. Casey White, who would later tell authorities the couple had been planning to lay low in Evansville to organize their thoughts, was taken into custody, Fox News reports.
He was returned to Alabama, where he was arraigned in a Lauderdale County Courthouse Tuesday night.
Casey White is already serving a 75-year sentence behind bars for a string of crimes in 2015, including attempting to murder his then-girlfriend.
He had been brought to the Lauderdale County Detention Center before his escape in connection with additional murder charges in the 2015 death of Connie Ridgeway. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in that case.
He’s also facing new charges connected to the escape.
