Chaz White Murder Case: Trial, Life Sentence, and Parole

Chaz Taelor White, 35, of the Mabank area in Henderson County, Texas, was sentenced to life in prison on October 27, 2025, for the murder of 25-year-old Alexis Garoutte. The Chaz White murder case ended with a jury convicting him of firing a Saiga AK-47 at a parked pickup in April 2023, killing Garoutte while trying to shoot a different person. His wife, Chelsey White, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received probation.¹

What Happened on Sailfish Drive

Around 7:20 p.m. on April 21, 2023, Henderson County deputies were called to a shooting on Sailfish Drive in the Bonita Point subdivision outside Gun Barrel City. Garoutte was found dead in the passenger seat of a black Dodge Ram pickup belonging to a man named James Shephard.²³

Garoutte was not the intended target. According to the arrest affidavit, White had ongoing “problems” with Shephard and saw him apparently passed out in the truck. White told his wife he wanted to rob Shephard. When Shephard woke, White grabbed the Saiga AK-47, walked outside, and fired at the truck. The rifle jammed after one shot. That single round killed Garoutte in the passenger seat.³ Security footage captured White yelling at someone to get out of the truck before he opened fire.¹

Chelsey White’s Role and Plea

Chelsey Renee White, then 31, was arrested two days after her husband and initially charged with murder. The affidavit said she had handed him the gun and a bulletproof vest before the shooting. Afterward, he gave the rifle back and told her to “get rid of it.” She first told police she had thrown it in a lake, then admitted she had stashed it at a residence in Grand Prairie and led officers to it.⁴ The recovered weapon matched a bullet taken from Garoutte and a spent casing found on White’s property.³

In 2024, she pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a reduced charge, and was sentenced to 10 years of probation and 300 hours of community service.¹

The Trial

Chaz White stood trial in Henderson County’s 392nd District Court in October 2025. The Henderson County District Attorney’s Office said White gave investigators six different accounts of what happened before admitting on the witness stand that he had fired the Saiga AK-47 at the black Dodge Ram.⁵

Prosecutors also introduced phone records showing that shortly after the shooting, White messaged a friend that he thought he had “caught a murder charge.”¹ The jury returned a guilty verdict on Friday, October 24, 2025.⁵

The Life Sentence and Parole Eligibility

White chose to let Judge R. Scott McKee decide his sentence rather than the jury. At the October 27, 2025 hearing, prosecutors put on evidence of White’s earlier record: probation in Dallas County for aggravated robbery in 2011, and for burglary of a habitation and interference with public duties in 2012. The court also heard that White had admitted to dealing and using methamphetamine. Prosecutors pointed to his tattoos, including “SS” lightning bolts they linked to white supremacist prison gangs, along with post-shooting tattoos of a gun on his head and a bullet next to his wife’s name.⁵

Judge McKee handed down a life sentence.¹ Under Texas Government Code Section 508.145, an inmate serving a life sentence for an offense listed in Article 42A.054 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which includes murder, must serve the lesser of one-half of the sentence or 30 calendar years of actual time before becoming eligible for parole consideration.⁶ For White, that puts his first parole eligibility at least 30 years out.

Who Alexis Garoutte Was

Alexis Deanne Garoutte was born on March 12, 1998 and was 25 when she was killed. Her obituary describes a love of horses and competitive cheerleading. She was the mother of two sons, Jayden and Jaxson, and was survived by her mother, Tara Castro of Gun Barrel City, and her sister, Brooke Lyn Garoutte. Her father, William Dan Garoutte, died before her.⁷

1
KLTV. Mabank Man Gets Life for 2023 Murder
2
KLTV. Henderson County Officials Investigate Shooting Death
3
KLTV. Henderson County Sheriff’s Office Arrests Murder Suspect in Deadly Shooting
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KLTV. 2nd Suspect Arrested in Connection With Henderson County Murder
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KETK. Life Sentence Handed to Henderson County Man for Killing Woman in 2023
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Texas Legislature. Texas Government Code Section 508.145
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Dignity Memorial. Alexis Garoutte Obituary