ATLANTA — An Atlanta woman took the stand Tuesday and described the final moments she shared with her boyfriend, Senior Airman Roger Fortson, before he was fatally shot by a Florida sheriff’s deputy.
The testimony came during the second day of the manslaughter trial of former Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran, who is accused in Fortson’s 2024 death.
Fortson, who was from Atlanta and stationed in Florida, was on the phone with his girlfriend, Tytiana Hendricks, when someone began knocking on his apartment door.
Hendricks told jurors Fortson looked through the peephole but could not see anyone outside. She said the knocking became increasingly aggressive.
Moments later, Fortson told her he was going to retrieve his gun. On the other side of the door was Duran, who was responding to a report of a disturbance at the apartment complex.
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“The first time we speculated it was a knock and didn’t do anything,” said Hendricks. “The second knock gets louder and more harsher. We both ask each other who that could be, and he was like ‘I don’t know, no one really comes to my door so I don’t know who that could be’.”
Fortson was stationed and lived in the Florida Panhandle at the time. On the other side of the door was Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran. His body camera captured him knocking on the door after neighbors reported a disturbance.
“He asked, ‘Who it is,’ really loud. He asked who it was. He didn’t get an answer, went to the peep hole, didn’t see anyone and then it kept getting louder,” testified Hendricks. “He said, ‘I’m going to go get my gun.’”
And then, seconds later, you can hear the gunshots from the deputy’s body cam.
“He was already on the ground, and the deputy, I heard him say, ‘Put the gun down,’” recalled Hendricks.
Duran, who has since been fired from the sheriff’s office, is charged with manslaughter.
The body camera video showed Duran shoot Fortson within seconds of Fortson opening his front door. It also showed Fortson holding his legally registered gun pointed toward the floor when he answered the door.
Duran faces up to 30 years behind bars if convicted.
Jurors also heard from other deputies who responded to the call and a use of force expert Wednesday.
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