A Florida jury has acquitted a former sheriff’s deputy charged in the death of an Airman from metro Atlanta.
Sr. Airman Roger Fortson, 23, died in 2024 after he was shot by Okaloosa County Deputy Eddie Duran while answering his front door. The sheriff’s office later fired Duran and prosecutors charged him with manslaughter.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
It took the jury a little over two hours to deliberate and come back with a non-guilty verdict. Duran was facing up to 30 years.
The shooting happened on May 3, 2024 at Fortson’s apartment in Fort Walton Beach. 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 said he looked through the peephole but could not see anyone outside. She testified that she could hear the knocking became increasingly aggressive.
“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’.”
Hendricks testified that Fortson didn’t get an answer, couldn’t see anyone and said he was getting his gun. Body camera footage showed Fortson answer the door with a gun in his hand that appeared to be pointed 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. He later died at the hospital.
RELATED STORIES
- Judge rules that deputy who shot, killed DeKalb airman can’t leave to seek employment
- Authorities arrest ex-sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot Atlanta airman
- Florida deputy charged with manslaughter in death of DeKalb airman
Duran shot Fortson five times. He told the jurors that he felt his life was in danger and the shooting was in self-defense.
“Looking at his eyes, it was clear to me that I wasn’t welcomed. I wasn’t a welcome presence. He seemed aggressive, frustrated, and again, just I’m not welcome,” Duran said.
ABC News reports that state prosecutor Mark Alderman argued that Fortson was “no threat” and that the Airman’s gun was pointed at the ground. He said Fortson wasn’t aggressive and was trying to shield himself before he was shot.
“Roger’s last act was to, in essence, plead to not be shot. The defendant completely ignored it. I hope that you don’t ignore it,” Alderman told the jury in closing arguments.
After the verdict, State Attorney Ginger Bowden thanked the jurors for their service and her office issued the following statement
“A not-guilty verdict means the State did not prove the criminal charge beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of every juror. It does not diminish the life, service, or humanity of Roger Fortson, and it does not lessen the devastating loss his family, friends, and fellow airmen endured.”
Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Fortson family, says the family is still pursing a civil rights lawsuit in federal court.
“This is a painful moment for everyone who loved Roger Fortson, and his family is heartbroken. Roger was a 23-year-old Senior Airman who chose to serve this country, and he was shot and killed at the door of his own home. His family has lived with that loss every day for more than two years, and this verdict is incredibly hard for them,” Crump said.
Duran’s attorney told ABC News he is grateful his client can move forward but he is “saddened for the event that occurred.”
“I always believed that when a police officer knocks on your door and loudly announces himself two times, you better not open that door with a loaded gun in your right hand,” Smith said. “I just felt like that he followed his training, and it’s a tragedy. This never should have happened. But I didn’t want to see a tragedy turn into an injustice.”
The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group
