‘A Way to Delay’: Mother of Airman Killed By White Deputy at His Own Front Door Says Case Has Been Delayed 17 Times as Cop Seeks More Time with Family
More than two years have passed since a Florida deputy shot and killed U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, an innocent Black man gunned down within seconds of opening the front door to his apartment — and his family says justice still hasn’t been served.
The criminal case against former Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy Eddie Duran is finally scheduled to go to trial on a manslaughter charge in September after multiple delays.
Fortson’s mother, Chantemekki “Meka” Fortson, said the court has postponed proceedings at least 17 times since prosecutors charged Duran on Aug. 23, 2024 — three months after the shooting was captured on his body camera.
“For me, it just seems like it’s just a way to delay tactics,” Fortson told Atlanta Black Star, arguing that Duran’s defense team has dragged out the case to give the former deputy more time with his family.
“You’re not ready for trial, but you want to go on spring break with your kids. You want to go on summer vacation with your kids. You want to move to another state with your kids,” Fortson said. “I think that’s a tactic they’re using as part of his defense.”
The Shooting
Duran shot Fortson on May 3, 2024, while responding to a reported “domestic disturbance in progress” between a man and woman.
When Duran arrived at the apartment complex, an employee directed him to Fortson’s unit, where Fortson was alone, speaking on FaceTime with his girlfriend.
Duran pounded on the door, shouting, “Sheriff’s office, open the door.” Duran knocked several times, each time stepping to one side out of the field of view of the door peephole
Fortson, a legal gun owner, opened the door holding a pistol at his side, pointed toward the floor.
“Step back,” Duran ordered, then drew his weapon and fired multiple rounds as Fortson held up one open palm.
“Drop the gun! Drop the gun!” Duran yelled.
“It’s over there, I don’t have it,” the wounded airman responded from the floor.
Watch the video below.
‘When I Saw His Eyes, I Saw Aggression’
The deputy shot Fortson six times. He died at a hospital as the sheriff’s office worked to justify the shooting to local media.
“Hearing sounds of a disturbance, he reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun,” the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said in an initial statement.
But the body camera video shows no “sounds of a disturbance” and no moment where Fortson threatens the deputy with his gun.
Six days after the shooting, Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden held a press conference, released the bodycam video, and falsely claimed Fortson knew a deputy was at his door.
“What we do know at this time is that the deputy did announce himself, not once but twice,” Sheriff Aden said.
“Mr. Fortson’s comments indicate that he did acknowledge it was law enforcement at the door and he arrived at the door with a firearm in his hand.”
The video, however, shows Fortson made no such comments at the doorway.
Duran, meanwhile, tried to justify the shooting in his internal affairs interview with the usual police refrain that he feared for his life, claiming he saw “aggression” in Fortson’s eyes.
“When I saw his eyes, I saw aggression,” he told the investigator. “I’m standing there thinking I’m about to get shot, I’m about to die. It is him or me at this point, and I need to act as opposed to react.”
The internal affairs investigator did not accept that explanation.
“The facts and evidence show Deputy Eddie Duran’s use of deadly force against Mr. Roger Fortson was not objectively reasonable,” Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Captain Robert A. Wagner wrote at the end of his 29-page report dated May 30, 2024.
The sheriff’s office fired Duran the following day.
‘My Biggest Fear is That Hypocrisy Might Win’
On August 23, 2024, State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden filed one count of manslaughter with a firearm against Duran, a charge that carries a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
Duran spent less than a week in jail before bonding out on a $100,000 bond.
Nearly two years later, he still has not gone to trial.
Fortson’s mother, who has a pending federal civil rights lawsuit against the sheriff, Duran and Chez Elan FL Property LLC, the company that owns and operates the apartment complex where her son was killed, says she does not know what to expect when the trial starts on Sept. 28.
“My biggest fear is that hypocrisy might win, but I am hoping that he’s found guilty so it can be some accountability,” she said.
“Whatever time they give him, whatever punishment they give him, that’s on them to decide,” Fortson declared.
“I just want them to say that he was wrong for what he did to my child. I just want to hear, ‘He should not have killed Roger Fortson. Senior Airman Roger Fortson should still be alive.’ That’s all I want.”
“I just need somebody to see how valuable my son’s life was. I want somebody to understand, my baby meant so much to me. I want somebody to understand, he was doing no wrong,” she continued.
“He was protecting his country against foreign and domestic threats. He just did not know that the cop standing at his door was a domestic threat.”