She Killed Herself. He Was Charged With Her Murder.

An Alabama prisoner has been charged with murdering a correctional officer who killed herself.

That is not a misprint.

On April 29, Casey White escaped from the Lauderdale County Jail with the help of Vicky White, who was the assistant director of corrections. The pair were engaged in a romantic relationship (and were not related).

White’s escape led to an 11-day search for the duo, culminating in a high-speed chase that ended with Vicky White fatally shooting herself in the head. Law enforcement recently charged Casey White with her murder.

It is not contested that Vicky White died by suicide, and prosecutors acknowledge that she acted on her own volition when she facilitated the escape. But under the felony murder rule, law enforcement may charge someone with a killing they didn’t actually carry out if the death occurred in the commission of another felony—in this case, Casey White’s first-degree escape.

He is certainly not a sympathetic character. But his murder charge is yet another example of how the felony murder rule has been bastardized in its application, joining a long list of cases that read almost like parody.

Consider the case of Jenna Holm, an Idaho woman who was experiencing an apparent mental health crisis when cops were called to help her. Upon arriving, Sergeant Randy Flegel drove his car into Bonnevill