Ex-Deputy Acquitted in Airman's Death

PHOTO CAPTION: A portrait of U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson is displayed during his memorial service at Hurlburt Field, Florida, on May 20, 2024. A Florida jury acquitted former Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy Eddie Duran of manslaughter in Fortson’s shooting death on Oct. 1, 2026. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alex Stephens. File photo.

A Florida jury has found former Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy Eddie Duran not guilty of manslaughter in the 2024 shooting death of Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson.
Jurors returned the verdict Thursday afternoon after deliberating for a little more than two hours, ending a criminal case that centered on what happened during the seconds after Fortson opened the door of his Fort Walton Beach apartment while holding a legally owned handgun.
Duran, 38, had faced one count of manslaughter with a firearm and as much as 30 years in prison if convicted.
Fortson was 23 years old when he was killed May 3, 2024.
Duran had been dispatched to Fortson’s apartment complex after a report of a possible domestic disturbance. Fortson was alone inside his apartment and was speaking with his girlfriend by phone.
Body-camera footage showed Duran knocking on Fortson’s door and announcing the sheriff’s office.
When Fortson opened the door, he was holding a handgun in his right hand with his arm down and the muzzle pointed toward the floor.
Duran fired five shots within seconds.
The central question at trial was whether Duran reasonably believed Fortson posed an imminent deadly threat.
Duran took the stand Wednesday and testified that when he saw the gun, he believed he was about to be shot.
“I thought I was dead,” Duran testified.
He told jurors he perceived Fortson as frustrated and aggressive and said the handgun appeared to him to be held in a canted position.
His defense argued that law enforcement officers are not trained to wait until a firearm is pointed directly at them before responding to what they perceive as an imminent threat.
Defense attorney Rod Smith told jurors that Duran’s actions were consistent with his law enforcement training and amounted to a justifiable use of force.
Prosecutors argued that the body-camera footage showed something different.
Assistant State Attorney Mark Alderman told jurors that Fortson’s handgun was pointed at the ground and that the airman made no aggressive movement toward Duran before he was shot.
Fortson could also be seen with his left hand raised as he opened the door.
Prosecutors argued that Fortson had the right to possess a firearm inside his own home and that simply holding the gun did not justify deadly force.
The shooting had already resulted in Duran losing his job.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office fired Duran after an internal administrative investigation concluded that Fortson did not point the gun toward the deputy, did not physically resist him and made no hostile or attacking movements.
That investigation determined Duran’s use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable under sheriff’s office policy.
The administrative determination was separate from the criminal case, where prosecutors were required to prove manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt.
Duran’s attorneys had also tried to have the criminal charge dismissed before trial under Florida’s self-defense law.
Circuit Judge William Stone rejected that request in September and allowed the case to go before a jury.
At trial, however, the jurors ultimately accepted that prosecutors had not met the burden required for a criminal conviction.
Six jurors deliberated after eight people, including two alternates, heard the closing arguments. The verdict had to be unanimous.
State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden said after the verdict that her office respected the jury’s decision.
Her office said prosecutors brought the case because they believed the evidence warranted presentation to a jury, while emphasizing that a not-guilty verdict means the state did not prove manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt to every juror.
Fortson served as a special missions aviator with the 4th and 73rd Special Operations Squadrons at Hurlburt Field.
The Air Force posthumously awarded him the Air and Space Commendation Medal after his death.
His killing drew national attention and prompted demonstrations, military memorials and scrutiny of the circumstances that brought Duran to Fortson’s apartment.
On Thursday, nearly two and a half years after the shooting, the criminal case ended with Duran’s acquittal.