Vicky White Died of Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound: Coroner

(Left) Inmate Casey White. (Right) Lauderdale County Detention Center assistant director Vicki White. U.S. Marshals Service, Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office via AP

The death of a corrections officer who allegedly helped an Alabama murder suspect escape from prison was ruled a suicide, said a coroner’s office in Indiana.

Vicky White died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, said the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office in Indiana on Tuesday evening. White is accused of aiding the escape of Casey Cole White, who is not related to her, but they were located about a week later in Indiana following a police chase and subsequent car crash, the sheriff’s office said in a Tuesday news conference.

Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding told reporters that Vicky White shot herself before officials were able to take her into custody. Casey White, meanwhile, was arrested without incident, although he told investigators later that the pair were prepared to engage in a shootout with police.

“The manner of death has been ruled a suicide,” the coroner’s office said in a brief statement. Other details weren’t provided.

Authorities accused Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections at the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office, of freeing Casey White out of custody after claiming that she was taking him to a court appearance. Sheriff’s officials have since said that the two were involved in a relationship, with Casey White telling law enforcement Tuesday that she was his wife.

According to Wedding, Casey White told investigators that he did not shoot Vicky White.

Casey White had been serving a 75-year sentence for a litany of charges. He was scheduled to go on trial for capital murder charges next month.

When he was captured, Casey White told police that he was “probably going to have a shootout,” Wedding said, adding that “their plan was pretty faulty … and it failed. “I have no idea” what was going through Vicky White’s mind during the incident, the sheriff admitted.

The two had several firearms, including an AR-15 rifle, in their vehicle at the time of the crash in Indiana, Wedding said.

Police in Evansville released a two-minute clip showing the chase, showing a police car driving to a field to approach the two suspects’ Cadillac car. Police were then seen taking Casey White, who is 6'9, to the hood of the police car before holding him down.

Meanwhile, 911 audio of Vicky White’s apparent call to dispatchers—as police chased the two—was released online, according to NewsNation. In that clip, a woman is heard telling Casey White: “Airbags are going off! Let’s get out and run!”

On Tuesday, Casey White waived his right to extradition and told a judge that he would be sent back to Alabama to face additional charges.