Henderson County Sheriff’s Office arrests murder suspect from deadly shooting in April

HENDERSON COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) - On Tuesday morning the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office announced that they arrested the murder suspect of a deadly shooting that occurred back in April.

According to a post made via their official Facebook page, investigators from the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search and arrest warrant for Chaz White, 32, who lived just outside Gun Barrel City, for the offense of murder. The Henderson County Tactical Team responded to White’s residence to execute the warrant at around 7:30 p.m. Monday night and arrested White without incident.

White has been the primary suspect of a deadly shooting of Alexis Garoutte, 25, that occurred on April 21 in Bonita Point.

Later on Tuesday afternoon, an arrest document was released with further details on the case.

According to the document, Garoutte was found by Henderson County Sheriff’s deputies in a truck belonging to James Shephard, a man with whom witnesses reportedly said White had “problems.” Investigators returned the next day to interview White, after witnesses said the shots sounded as if they came from his direction.

Interviews conducted with White’s wife and another key witness provided matching conclusions; Garoutte had been shot while White had been intending to harm Shephard. According to his wife, White was saying Shephard was “passed out” in his truck before the shooting, and White appeared to be excited at the prospect of robbing Shephard. White then reportedly found out Shephard had woken up, and White then went into the bathroom.

White’s wife said she then heard the sound of what she thought was dogs on tin, and White ran outside telling her to bring him his vest and gun. She said she brought him the vest and rifle, and White aimed it at Shephard’s truck. White reportedly fired once, and the gun would not fire again. White then allegedly told her that he “might be going away,” and she left with the gun at his request.

Preliminary investigation shows that Garoutte had been in the passenger seat of the truck when White attempted to shoot Shephard, where she was shot and ultimately killed.

White’s wife was able to provide the rifle White had used, which matched the bullet retrieved from Garoutte’s body, as well as a spent shell found on White’s property. After the gathering of these reports and evidence, White was arrested and booked into Henderson County Jail on bonds totaling $2 million.

The investigation is still ongoing and additional arrests in connection with this case have not been ruled out.

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