An inmate whose escape from an Alabama prison led to a multistate search has been charged with felony murder in connection to the death of the corrections officer accused of helping him, authorities announced Tuesday.
The 11-day search for the pair began in April when Vicky White, a 56-year-old corrections officer, disappeared from the jail with Alabama inmate Casey White, 38, authorities said. Corrections officials described a jailhouse romance between the two.
The search ended in May with the death of Vicky White, with officials saying she shot herself after a brief police chase.
“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 to the head,” Chris Connolly, the Lauderdale County district attorney, said in a statement.
Under Alabama law, people may be charged with murder if they cause someone’s death while committing another crime, including escape in the first degree.
“Causing her death doesn’t mean he pointed a gun at her and he shot her,” Mr. Connolly said in an interview. “He was engaged in the escape and she died.”
Casey White is currently in the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections, serving a 75-year sentence. He is also charged with capital murder for the 2015 slaying of Connie Ridgeway. Police found Ridgeway stabbed to death in her living room in what they said was a murder-for-hire. White is 38.
