FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. — An Okaloosa County jury on Thursday, Oct. 1, found former sheriff’s deputy Eddie Duran not guilty of manslaughter with a firearm in the May 2024 shooting death of U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson. The verdict came after a four-day trial and about two hours of deliberation. Duran faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted. The verdict ends the criminal case. It does not erase the record that came before it. Within a month of the shooting, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office concluded that Duran’s use of deadly force violated agency policy and fired him.

What happened on May 3, 2024

Fortson, 23, was at home in his Fort Walton Beach apartment on May 3, 2024, when Duran responded to a call reporting a domestic disturbance, according to the sheriff’s office as reported by ABC News. Fortson was alone and on the phone with his girlfriend, ABC reported. The Guardian reported that authorities have said the disturbance report turned out to be false. The deputy’s body camera recorded the encounter. Duran knocked and announced himself as law enforcement. Fortson opened the door holding a handgun pointed toward the ground. ABC News reported that the gun was legally owned. Duran shot Fortson several times within two seconds of the door opening, according to the sheriff’s office internal affairs investigation as reported by Stars and Stripes. The Guardian reported that, according to authorities, Duran fired before telling Fortson to drop the gun. Fortson later died at a hospital.

The sheriff’s own findings

On May 31, 2024, Sheriff Eric Aden announced that Duran had been fired after an administrative internal affairs investigation. NBC News reported that Aden said: “The objective facts of the administrative investigation concluded that Mr. Fortson did not make any hostile, attacking movements, and therefore, the former deputy’s use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable.” According to NPR, Aden also said: “This tragic incident should have never occurred. The objective facts do not support the use of deadly force as an appropriate response to Mr. Fortson’s actions. Mr. Fortson did not commit any crime. By all accounts, he was an exceptional airman and individual.” The Northwest Florida Daily News reported that the office released a 29-page internal affairs report. Capt. Robert Wagner of the sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards concluded that Duran’s use of deadly force violated policy. NPR reported that the sheriff’s office described the investigation as “limited in scope,” meaning it addressed whether Duran broke agency policy.

The charge and the trial

On Aug. 23, 2024, prosecutors charged Duran with one count of manslaughter with a firearm, according to NPR and NBC News. Afterward, the sheriff’s office said it stood by its decision to fire him. Judge William Stone was set to preside over the trial, WUWF reported. Jury selection took place on Monday, Sept. 28, WALA reported. Duran had sought immunity under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law at a three-day hearing in August. Stone denied that request in a Sept. 11 order, WUWF reported. Duran pleaded not guilty. ABC News reported that he testified that he shot Fortson in self-defense. In closing arguments, defense attorney Rod Smith told jurors: “Do you have to wait? Do we ever train people that they have to wait until the gun is pointed at them? No. No one is trained that you wait till the gun is pointed at you. No one would take the job if that was the training.” Smith also said, according to ABC: “The question here is about the reasonableness of his actual fear.” The jury deliberated for around two hours, WUWF reported. ABC News described the deliberations as lasting “more than two hours.”

Reaction

The office of State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden prosecuted the case. In a statement, the office said: “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.” Fortson’s family and supporters left the courtroom immediately after the verdict was read, WUWF reported. Spectators protested outside the Okaloosa County Courthouse Annex Extension after the decision, according to Mid Bay News. On Friday, Oct. 2, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family, vowed to “seek accountability” as the family pursues a civil rights case in federal court, The Guardian reported. Duran’s defense attorney argued that the former deputy was “doing his job,” according to The Guardian. The case took more than two years to reach trial. Two findings now stand in the public record. The sheriff’s office concluded in 2024 that the shooting violated policy. A jury in 2026 found that the state had not proved a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. We The People News will keep reviewing the public record in the Fortson case, including the body camera footage and the internal affairs report.

Watch: We The People Investigates — The Records Fight

Sources

  1. The Guardian, Oct. 3, 2026: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/03/florida-ex-sheriff-deputy-not-guilty-shooting-death-black-air-force-airman
  2. ABC News, Oct. 2026: https://abcnews.com/US/former-sheriffs-deputy-eddie-duran-found-not-guilty-manslaughter/story?id=136930927
  3. The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/roger-fortson-shooting-deputy-eddie-duran-verdict-b3060643.html
  4. NBC News, Aug. 23, 2024: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fired-florida-deputy-killed-roger-fortson-charged-manslaughter-rcna155380
  5. NPR, Aug. 23, 2024: https://www.npr.org/2024/08/23/nx-s1-5088020/roger-fortson-death-florida-sheriff-deputy-charged-manslaughter
  6. Stars and Stripes, May 31, 2024: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2024-05-31/air-force-airman-killing-florida-sheriff-deputy-14042569.html
  7. Northwest Florida Daily News, May 31, 2024: https://www.nwfdailynews.com/story/news/local/2024/05/31/okaloosa-sheriff-use-of-deadly-force-in-airman-killing-was-wrong/73927457007/
  8. Mid Bay News, Oct. 1, 2026: https://midbaynews.com/post/eddie-duran-found-not-guilty-in-airman-killing-spectators-protest
  9. WUWF, Sept. 14, 2026 (updated Sept. 17): https://www.wuwf.org/local-news/2026-09-14/judge-denies-the-motion-to-dismiss-the-case-against-the-former-okaloosa-sheriffs-deputy
  10. WUWF, Oct. 1, 2026: https://www.wuwf.org/local-news/2026-10-01/former-okaloosa-deputy-found-not-guilty-in-fatal-shooting-of-senior-airman-roger-fortson
  11. WALA (Fox10), Sept. 28, 2026: https://www.fox10tv.com/2026/09/28/jury-selection-begins-trial-ex-deputy-accused-airmans-death/

Discover more from We The People News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.