Accused of Killing a Florida Officer Man Slipped Through the Immigration Net

Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller (L) and his accused killer, Wisner Desmaret. (Fort Myers Police Department)

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency wants to deport the man who killed a police officer and is in the United States illegally—who was arrested and released repeatedly despite ICE orders that he be held.

Wisner Desmaret, 29, was arrested at the scene after shooting Fort Meyers, Florida, Police Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller outside a Marathon gas station in Fort Meyers on the night of July 21.

Desmaret had stolen a cellphone from a car, and then fled. Two officers chased him on foot and caught him.

At first Desmaret pleaded for the officers to shoot him in the back. Then he turned with his hands raised. Without warning Desmaret savagely attacked both officers.

In the scuffle, Desmaret grabbed Jobbers-Miller’s handgun and fired five times, severely wounding the officer.

Other officers arrived on the scene and fired at Desmaret. Desmaret was also shot, but only slightly wounded.

Jobbers-Miller fought for life for a week, but died on July 28. Jobbers-Miller was also 29 years old. He was engaged to be married.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help his family.

Illegal Alien With a Long Criminal History

Desmaret came to the United States from Haiti at age 10, with his family, on a legitimate travel voucher. He remained after the voucher expired, and lived illegally in the United States for the next 19 years.

He was first arrested in 2002 at the age of 13 for burglary and larceny, the News-Press reported. He was arrested seven more times as a juvenile.

As an adult Desmaret had multiple scrapes with the law, and was arrested on charges including burglary and trespassing. He was arrested in Glades County in December 2008. He was remanded to ICE and went to immigration court in Miami’s Krome Detention center. ICE set him free on Jan. 29, 2009, records show.

“Could’ve just been his lucky day, he was in there for a minor charge … and at the time in 2008, there were other things pending more serious and someone said why are we holding this poor soul who may be incompetent and not know what he was doing,” lawyer Michael Raheb told Wink News.

Slipping Through the Cracks

ICE issued a second Hold order in 2010—but Desmaret was never held. Lee County dropped the charges—burglary, theft, and burglar’s tools—due to insufficient evidence. ICE was apparently not notified.

Lawyer Michael Rehab told Wink news that many counties’ justice systems are just too crowded and overworked to keep track of every ICE hold order.

“Places like Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, busy counties don’t have time for that to start calling ICE and frankly they won’t,” he explained.

Desmaret was arrested a total of 16 times as an adult, the News Press reported, on charges including burglary and trespassing. He was only convicted once, of a misdemeanor.

Many of those cases were dropped. In at least four, he was released after being deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial, the state attorney’s office told Wink News.

Released on a Promise to Take His Mental Health Meds

His last arrest was the summer of 2018. Desmaret was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine in Sarasota County. He was released without bond on July 19, after he assured Judge Stephen Walker that he would take his medications regularly until his next scheduled hearing on Aug. 16.

Desmaret told Judge Walker that he would be sure to take his medication. “Because when I don’t take it, I feel like the whole world is out to get me,” Desmaret told the judge according to tapes obtained by NBC.

The judge was conflicted about releasing Desmaret, but he noted that Desmaret had no convictions on his record. Apparently that record did not reflect that Desmaret had been released for mental incompetency.

Psychologists Dr. Mary Kasper  and Dr. Michael Woulas evaluated Desmaret for the Sarasota court and deemed him competent to stand trial for cocaine possession charges, NBC News and Wink News reported.

Whether or not Desmaret took his meds is not known. What is known is that he shot Jobbers-Miller two days later.

Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller had been a volunteer fireman before joining the police force. (officer.com)

ICE Will Have to Wait

Desmaret currently faces multiple charges, which will likely include first-degree murder now that Jobbers-Miller has died of his wounds.

Desmaret will have to serve out his sentence before ICE can deport him back to Haiti.

From NTD.tv

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