Florida Deputy Dismissed and Charged with Manslaughter in Fatal Shooting of Roger Fortson

Florida Deputy Dismissed and Charged with Manslaughter in Fatal Shooting of Roger Fortson
Image By: NPR

Authorities announced on Friday that a manslaughter charge has been brought against the since-fired Florida sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed an Air Force senior airman at his house in May.

Gregory Anchors, the top assistant state’s attorney for Okaloosa County, verified the indictment and stated that the maximum sentence for manslaughter with a handgun is 30 years in jail.

On May 3, after Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson opened the door to his Fort Walton Beach condominium, Eddie Duran, a former member of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, shot Fortson multiple times. Body-camera footage reveals that Fortson was pointing a gun at the ground with his right hand.

A resident of the apartment building called Duran to report a domestic disturbance.

Although a warrant for Duran’s arrest had been issued, anchors stated that they did not know when the former deputy would turn himself in. When Fortson, 23, was killed, he was at home by himself with his dog and talking to his girlfriend on a video call. Fortson was African American. Duran identified as Hispanic when he registered to vote.

Fortson’s parents urged state attorney Ginger Bowden Madden to press charges against Duran during a press conference last week.

Following her discovery of the accusations on Friday, his mother Chantemekki Fortson expressed that, “I hope this brings about change and it teaches others that you can’t just kill people.”

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She continued, saying that the news “doesn’t bring me any peace.” It hurts even now.

Ben Crump, her lawyer, stated: “Nothing can ever bring Roger back, and our fight is far from over, but we are hopeful that this arrest and these charges will result in real justice for the Fortson family.”

Duran began working for the sheriff’s department in 2019 and left in November of 2021. In June 2023, he came back. Sheriff Eric Aden declared Duran’s dismissal on May 31, over a month after Fortson’s death, after an administrative internal affairs probe.

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