FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (news agencies) — A Florida sheriff’s deputy was charged with manslaughter with a firearm, launching a rarely seen criminal case against a Florida law officer, after a Black U.S. Air Force senior airman was killed after answering his apartment door while holding a gun pointed toward the ground.
Former Okaloosa County deputy Eddie Duran was charged in the May 3 shooting death of 23-year-old Roger Fortson, Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said. The charge is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Marcille said a warrant has been issued for Duran’s arrest but he was not in custody as Friday afternoon.
“Let this be a reminder to law enforcement officers everywhere that they swore a solemn oath to protect and defend, and their actions have consequences, especially when it results in the loss of life,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the airman’s family, said Friday.
Sabu Williams, president of the local branch of the NAACP, told media that “I think this is the best that we could have hoped for in this particular case.”
Duran listed himself as Hispanic on his voter registration, and the charging documents released Friday also identify him that way.
Authorities say Duran had been directed to Fortson’s Fort Walton Beach apartment in response to a domestic disturbance report that turned out to be false.
After repeated knocking, Fortson opened the door while holding his handgun at his side, pointed down. Authorities say that Duran shot him multiple times; only then did he tell Fortson to drop the gun.
Okaloosa Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran on May 31 after an internal investigation concluded his life was not in danger when he opened fire.
Duran’s attorney, John Whitaker, did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment.
Candles and framed photos of Fortson in uniform graced the doorway of the apartment where he was killed. The complex is shaded by magnolia and oak trees and is home to a number of service members, said 65-year-old Robin Starr, who lives down the hall from Fortson’s unit.
Starr didn’t know Fortson but said their mailboxes were close to each other. She’s followed the case and said she believes the deputy’s use of force was “excessive” — but also said she believed the airman was wrong to answer the door with a gun in his hand.
“It’s just sad all the way around,” she said.
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 Friday. Even then, only one of those officers has been convicted.
Four Miami-Dade officers were recently indicted on manslaughter charges in connection with a shootout with two robbers who hijacked a UPS truck. The shootout left the UPS driver and a passerby dead along with the hijackers.
Three police officers in the Okaloosa County town of Crestview are awaiting trial on manslaughter charges for the 2021 death of Calvin Wilks Jr., who died after they allegedly jolted him with a stun gun. Those officers have pleaded not guilty.
Former Palm Beach Gardens officer Nouman Raja is serving a 25-year prison sentence after being convicted of manslaughter and attempted murder for the 2015 shooting of Corey Jones, a Black man whose SUV had broken down on an interstate highway off-ramp. Raja, working undercover and in plain clothes, never identified himself as a police officer when he approached Jones and began yelling at him, an audio recording showed. Jones, fearing he was being robbed, pulled his licensed handgun and tried to flee. Raja pursued and killed him, trial testimony showed.
A Broward sheriff’s deputy was charged with manslaughter for the 2014 fatal shooting of a Black man who was carrying a air rifle he had just purchased. A judge later threw out that charge.
The U.S. Supreme Court has given law enforcement officers “qualified immunity” for their on-duty actions, making it difficult to charge and convict them for questionable shootings. The court says that officers can only be convicted if the evidence shows that their conduct was illegal and they should have known they were violating “clearly established” law.
Duran began his law enforcement career as a military police officer in the Army. He was hired by an Oklahoma police department in 2015 after his military discharge. He Joined the Okaloosa County sheriff’s office in July 2019, but resigned two years later and then rejoined the sheriff’s office in June 2023.
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