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Left: Fired deputy Eddie Duran (Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office). Center: U.S. Airman Roger Fortson pictured just before he was fatally shot (Ben Crump). Right: Fortson in uniform (U.S. Air Force).
The mother of a slain U.S. airman in Florida has sued not only the sheriff’s deputy who killed him, but also the apartment complex where he lived and the leasing agent who reported a domestic disturbance at his apartment.
As Law&Crime has previously reported, U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was killed on May 3, 2024, by Eddie Lee Duran, who at the time was a 38-year-old deputy with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. The incident was captured on body camera footage.
According to the lawsuit, filed by Fortson’s mother, Chantimekki “Meka” Fortson, law enforcement and the apartment complex engaged in a “cascade of negligent, reckless, and unconstitutional actions” that resulted in Fortson’s death. The complaint was filed Tuesday in the Northern U.S. District of Florida.
“In the four-and-a-half minute, heavily redacted video, it is very troubling that the deputy shot multiple times within a split second of the door being opened, killing Roger,” attorney Ben Crump, who represents Fortson’s mother, has said.
Warning: The footage is disturbing.
Bodycam of #RogerFortson fatal police death. In the four-and-a-half minute, heavily redacted video, it is very troubling that the deputy shot multiple times within a split second of the door being opened, killing Roger. pic.twitter.com/ZngLhwsxX8
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) May 9, 2024
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office fired the deputy, Eddie Duran, 39, and called his decision to open fire “not objectively reasonable.” Prosecutors charged him with manslaughter. He pleaded not guilty in an ongoing case.
Crump’s team has taken Duran to task, saying that he knocked on the door to Fortson’s apartment, 1401, without initially identifying himself as law enforcement and standing out of view of the peephole. Fortson, on the phone with his girlfriend and concerned for his safety, got a gun but was pointing it down when opening the door. As the plaintiff’s legal team pointed out, he was holding out his open left hand defensively. Duran swiftly opened fire multiple times. He demanded Fortson drop the gun.
“It’s over there. I don’t have it,” Fortson said, dying. “I can’t breathe.”
The complaint thoroughly attacked the credibility of the agent who spoke to Duran, in an attempt to cast significant doubt on her recollection about there being a prior domestic disturbance in the residence. The leasing agent, identified in federal documents only as a Jane Doe, was acting on “fourth-hand” information and an unsubstantiated personal recollection when she falsely claimed that there was an escalating confrontation at the residence and that something like that had happened before, the complaint says.
“Ms. Doe also recounted to Deputy Duran her vague recollection of a prior incident from weeks earlier where she thought she heard yelling and a slap,” the complaint stated. “She admitted that she did not know where the yelling had come from but still identified Mr. Fortson’s apartment as the source.”
The Elan Apartments, the apartment complex where Fortson lived and died, has not responded to Law&Crime’s request for comment. The sheriff’s office did not discuss the details of the complaint.
“We are aware of the civil lawsuit filed on behalf of Roger Fortson,” a sheriff’s office representative wrote. “The death of Mr. Fortson one year ago was a tragic event that has and will continue to impact many lives within our community and beyond. We remain committed to the transparency we have shown throughout this process and stand by our previous public statements. On the advice of counsel, we have no further comment regarding this matter.”