A former Florida sheriff's deputy has been found not guilty of manslaughter with a firearm in the killing of a Black U.S. Air Force airman fatally shot at his apartment during a domestic disturbance call.
An Okaloosa County jury acquitted Eddie Duran, 38, on Thursday. Duran had faced up to 30 years in prison.
Duran, who is Hispanic, worked for the Okaloosa County sheriff's department in May 2024 when he responded to Roger Fortson's Fort Walton Beach apartment near Hurlburt Field, where the airman was stationed.
The sheriff's office had said the deputy "reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun." The shooting was captured on the deputy's body camera.
The video shows the deputy banging on the door and stepping aside, seemingly out of view of the door. Twice he shouted: “Sheriff’s office! Open the door!”
Fortson opened the door and could be seen holding what appeared to be a handgun pointed down toward the floor. The deputy shouted, “Step back!” and fired off shots. He then shouted, “Drop the gun! Drop the gun!”
“It’s over there,” Fortson said.
“Drop the gun!” the deputy yelled back.
“I don’t have it,” Fortson said, lying on the ground.
The deputy then called paramedics on his radio.
Fortson later died at a hospital. The domestic disturbance report that led Duran to Fortson’s apartment turned out to be false.
After the shooting, authorities said Fortson was alone in the apartment and on the phone with his girlfriend.
Fortson was assigned as a missions operator to the 4th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field. He was a member of the squadron’s AC-130J Ghostrider aircrew, which loads the gunship’s 30 mm and 105 mm cannons during missions.
The State Attorney's office prosecuted Duran and said in a news release that it accepts the jury's verdict, which means the state "did not prove the criminal charge beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of every juror."
“We understand that this verdict will cause pain, anger, or disappointment for many people, particularly some members of the community who view Senior Airman Fortson’s death within a context of encounters nationally involving law enforcement,” the State Attorney's office said. “Those reactions should not be dismissed.”
Duran was fired after an internal sheriff’s office investigation later determined his life was not in danger when he shot Fortson.
Duran’s attorney, Rod Smith, said the shooting was a police officer safety issue and that Duran went to Fortson’s apartment “to find out what was going on based on a complaint from a neighbor.”
“None of this needed to happen,” Smith told The Associated Press on Friday. “(Fortson) absolutely knew a police officer was at the door. Deputy Duran, himself, was also a victim of a terrible tragedy. He had followed his training. The guy answered the door with a semiautomatic pistol in his hand.”
It is highly unusual for Florida law enforcement officers to be charged for an on-duty killing — it has only happened four times in the last 35 years before Fortson's killing. Even then, only one of those officers was convicted.
“Deputies perform essential and often dangerous work every day, and are entitled to the same presumption of innocence and fair process as everyone else accused of a crime,” the State Attorney’s office said. "At the same time, the authority to use deadly force must remain subject to independent review. Presenting disputed evidence to a jury is part of that accountability and is essential to public trust.”
Fortson's killing renewed looks at controversial "Stand Your Ground" laws in Florida and some other states where gun owners can claim self-defense after carrying out shootings. Critics have denounced them as "shoot first" laws that have created a climate of vigilantism in which gun owners operate with impunity in largely killing Black people.
Fortson carried his legally owned handgun to the door of his apartment after hearing banging noises that ended up being a sheriff’s deputy. It was the deputy who opened fire, not Fortson.
A federal civil rights lawsuit was filed last year by Fortson's family against Duran, Sheriff Eric Aden and others, according to Ben Crump, a prominent attorney who represents the family in the lawsuit.
“This is a painful moment for everyone who loved Roger Fortson, and his family is heartbroken," Crump said in a statement. “His family has lived with that loss every day for more than two years, and this verdict is incredibly hard for them.”
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Williams reported from Detroit.
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