Cullman community pays tribute following murder-suicide of Cullman County dispatcher

CULLMAN COUNTY, Ala. (WAFF) - The Cullman County community is paying its respects to a Sheriff’s dispatcher who was the victim of an apparent murder-suicide.

A procession carrying Lexi White’s body arrived just before 4 p.m. in Holly Pond on Friday.

White served as the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office’s dispatch supervisor. She spent seven years with the department, having worked there since she was 16-years-old.

Orange Beach police say White was shot and killed early Thursday morning during an argument with Kenneth Booth. Booth was a deputy with the Sheriff’s office, who eventually turned the gun on himself.

WAFF spoke with Cynthia Hawkins, White’s first-grade teacher, who was distraught when she heard the news.

“I actually was on the way with my husband to town yesterday afternoon. I happened to pull up Facebook and saw the post and I squalled all the way to town because it’s just so... so senseless,” Hawkins said. “She was such a light. She was such a joy, it’s just so not how Lexi should have passed from this Earth at all.”

Hawkins knew White and her family well saying she was a true people’s person, even when she was just a child.

“She was always just a bubbling personality. She made everybody better around her,” Hawkins said. Our class was so much fun with Lexi in it and her whole family is that way. Her dad, her brother, her mom, her stepmom, they’re just wonderful people.”

A funeral date for White hasn’t been set. Orange Beach Police will also be handling the investigation into what led to this tragic situation.

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