BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Brevard County deputy critically injured in a 2015 undercover prostitution sting is back on the job after a year of rehabilitation, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey announced.
Casey Smith was shot several times on Aug. 20, 2015, while trying to arrest a man at his Port St. John home.
Smith’s heart stopped twice after he was shot -- once in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and once at Wuesthoff Medical Center.
Both times emergency personnel were able to resuscitate him.
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“Truthfully, it was about as grim as it could be,” Dr. Robert Beatty said. “Casey arrived in cardiac arrest (and) was being actively resuscitated by the tremendous team here.”
Smith was stabilized and underwent the first of numerous surgeries the night of the shooting.
Smith and two other deputies had gone to the Covina Street home to arrest Mary Ellyn Derossett on prostitution charges when investigators said her uncle, John Derossett, opened fire.
Smith was acting as backup for an undercover agent who knocked on the door, investigative reports said.
Instead of a smooth arrest, agents said Mary Ellyn Derossett pulled away and called for her uncle, who was armed.
Smith was hit and John Derossett was injured when deputies returned fire.
It was Mary Ellyn Derossett who called 911 after the shooting.
“Somebody tried to pull me out (of the house) and I started yelling for (John Derossett),” she said in a recording of the call. “He came out and brought his gun and shot into the sky.
“Somebody, whoever these men are, shot at him.”
Court documents say the deputies identified themselves as law enforcement before the first shot was fired and that Smith and another agent were wearing marked tactical vests.
Mary Ellyn Derossett was arrested and took a plea deal on the prostitution charge. She was sentenced to six months in jail and six months probation.
John Derossett was charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer.
He was housed in the Orange County Jail to avoid a conflict of interest, and posted a $450,000 bond in December.
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If convicted, he faces life in prison.
Smith spent more than a month in the hospital before being released in October.
In April, he met with the doctors who saved his life and talked about how difficult his recovery had been.
“You take for granted all the little things you can do – just being able to get back to walking, being able to shower and take care of yourself,” he said.
In the wake of the shooting, 500 people donated blood to help save Smith’s life and the community responded to help his family “in amazing volumes,” Ivey said on Facebook.
“Our community’s response and compassion for Casey and our agency should be used as a model for other communities to use when facing critical incidents,” Ivey said. “I have always believed that ‘it takes a community to protect a community,’ and this incident gave a profound example of what happens when a community comes together to help one of their own during a time of need.”
Cox Media Group
