LONGVIEW — The last defendant in the case of Cowlitz County Sheriff Deputy Justin DeRosier’s 2019 murder was sentenced last week, while another recently sentenced defendant in the case has not yet reported to jail.
Ricky Roberts Jr., 27, will not serve any additional time in jail for his 2020 guilty plea involving DeRosier’s death. Roberts received 90 days in Cowlitz County Jail on Feb. 16, which he has already served, state court records.
Roberts pleaded guilty to the gross misdemeanor of third-degree criminal assistance in 2020. A previous report by The Daily News says Roberts’ original felony charge was downgraded in exchange for testifying against another defendant in the case, Savannah Eastman, 27, if she went to trial.
Eastman did not go to trial, and instead pleaded guilty to the felony of rendering criminal assistance in November — more than three years after the shooting.
Delays to resolve Eastman’s case included trial suspensions during the pandemic, as well as hangups like recusing judges and requesting an evaluation so Eastman could possibly receive a sentence without prison time to be with her children.
Eastman did not receive the sentencing alternative, and was scheduled to report to jail Feb. 12 to serve her sentence of one year and a day in prison.
Court records show Eastman did not show up Feb. 12. Jail staff said she had not been booked into the jail as of about 4:10 p.m. Tuesday. A warrant has not been issued as of Tuesday evening.
Timeline
April 13, 2019: Cowlitz County Sheriff Office Deputy Justin DeRosier is shot when checking on a motorhome blocking a road in Kalama.
April 14, 2019: DeRosier dies at the hospital from his wounds. His suspected shooter Brian Butts is fatally shot by police after he fires at them off Spencer Creak Road in Kalama. Police say $3,000 worth of methamphetamine was found on Butts’ body, possibly indicating his motive to shoot DeRosier.
Oct. 9, 2019: Michael Veatch is fatally shot by officers in St. Helens, Oregon, in a case unrelated to DeRosier’s death. Veatch is never charged in DeRosier’s case, but police say Michael Veatch gave Butts a heads up that DeRosier was on his way after being pulled over by the deputy nearby. Later his girlfriend Savannah Eastman says he asked her to help Butts escape.
June 8, 2020: Michael Veatch’s brother Mathew Veatch is sentenced to 11 months after pleading guilty to leading Butts to a nearby wooded area to avoid police.
Feb. 7, 2022: Eastman is sentenced to one year and a day in prison after pleading guilty to helping Butts avoid police.
Feb. 16, 2022: Ricky Roberts, Jr. is sentenced to 90 days in the Cowlitz County Jail, which he has already served, after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor in exchange for testifying against Eastman if she went to trial. Police say Roberts provided a getaway ride for Butts.
Police report Roberts provided a getaway car for DeRosier’s killer after the April 13, 2019, shooting in Kalama that took DeRosier’s life the following day, according to previous reports by The Daily News.
Police say DeRosier’s shooter, Brian Butts, 33, of Kalama went to Mathew Veatch’s Kalama residence after the shooting for help. Veatch admitted to leading Butts to the nearby woods to avoid police, and received an 11-month sentence in June 2020 in Cowlitz County Superior Court for his guilty plea.
Eastman said her boyfriend and Veatch’s brother, Michael Veatch, asked her to arrange a getaway ride. Police say Michael Veatch also gave Butts a heads up that DeRosier was on his way prior to the shooting after being pulled over by the deputy nearby.
Michael Veatch was never charged in the case, and was killed in an unrelated shootout with police about seven months after DeRosier’s shooting in October 2019 in St. Helens, Oregon.
After Eastman was asked to find Butts a ride, police say she called Roberts to pick Butts up, states previous The Daily News reports. Butts never arrived. He was killed by officers when he shot at them the day after DeRosier was shot, on April 14, 2019, in Kalama, police say.
