Vicky White, Missing Alabama Corrections Officer, Dies After Capture

EVANSVILLE, IN — An Alabama corrections officer accused of helping an inmate escape shot herself and died Monday as she and the inmate were intercepted by U.S. marshals in Indiana — more than 200 miles from the jail they fled, according to The Associated Press.

Vicky White and murder defendant Casey Cole White had been missing since April 29, when Vicky White helped Casey White flee the Lauderdale County Jail in Alabama after she claimed she was taking him to a courthouse for a mental health evaluation, police previously said. Their time on the run ended Monday in Evansville, Indiana, according to Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding, who spoke at a news conference early Monday evening that was posted online by News 19.

Officials learned Monday that a Cadillac matching the description of a vehicle the runaway pair was thought to be driving was near the sheriff’s office, Wedding said. Deputies and marshals responded to the area, and the duo fled before being intercepted by marshals in a crash, according to Wedding. Vicky White, who was driving, shot herself and was taken to a hospital, as was Casey White, whose injuries were not severe, according to Wedding.

Vicky White later died at a hospital.

Vicky White and Casey White may have been in Evansville since at least May 3, according to Wedding. Neither resisted law enforcement after the crash, Wedding said, adding authorities had found one weapon in the Cadillac so far.

Back in Alabama, Lauderdale County officials had looked ahead to when Vicky White and Casey White would return to the state they fled.

“I knew we would catch them,” Sheriff Rick Singleton said in a news conference, also published by News 19. “It was just a matter of time.”

The escape of Vicky White and Casey White was unusually well planned, according to Singleton.

“You don’t know who you can trust,” Singleton said. “I had every bit of trust in Vicky White. She has been an exemplary employee. And what in the world provoked her, prompted her to pull a stunt like this, I don’t know — I don’t know if we’ll ever know.”

Vicky White was charged with permitting an escape, as well as forgery and identity theft in connection with the purchase of a 2007 Ford Edge used to facilitate the plan, police have said. Charged with a Class C felony, she could have served up to 10 years behind bars, according to Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly, who spoke during the news conference.
Vicky White and Casey White, who are not related, had a nonphysical special relationship, police have said.

Casey White is serving 75 years in Alabama state prison for several convictions, according to Alabama Department of Corrections records. He was in Lauderdale County Jail awaiting court appearances in connection with murder charges in the 2015 killing of Connie Ridgeway, to which he confessed in 2020, authorities said. Connolly said officials plan to try him in June.

When he returns to Lauderdale County, Casey White will be placed in a cell by himself and will remain in handcuffs and shackles, according to Singleton.

“He’s not getting out of this jail again,” Singleton said. “I’ll assure you of that.”