Ex-Deputy Acquitted in Shooting of Airman Roger Fortson: What the Verdict Means
Former Okaloosa County sheriff's deputy Eddie Duran was found not guilty of manslaughter with a firearm in the fatal shooting of U.S. Air Force airman Roger Fortson. An Okaloosa County jury decided after about two hours of deliberations, ending a four-day trial. The Guardian
Duran, 38 at the time of the verdict, had faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted. The jury delivered its verdict on a Thursday afternoon. ABC News
Fortson was 23 when he was killed inside his Fort Walton Beach apartment in May 2024. He was a Black active-duty airman. The shooting drew national attention because of the circumstances of the encounter and the fact that video existed. The News Tribune
The administrative record places the discharge of Duran's agency-issued handgun on May 3, 2024, at around 1632 hours, or 4:32 p.m. Duran had been sent to Fortson's apartment in response to a report of a domestic disturbance. That report turned out to be false. Fortson was alone in the apartment and had no connection to the reported disturbance. The Guardian
What happened at the door became the central factual dispute at trial. Fortson answered holding a handgun at his side, pointed toward the ground. Duran fired multiple times, then told Fortson to drop the gun. The sequence was captured on the deputy's body camera, giving jurors a frame-by-frame record uncommon in use-of-force prosecutions.
The jury deliberated for about two hours. To convict, the state had to prove culpable negligence, meaning reckless disregard for safety, beyond a reasonable doubt, meaning a very high level of certainty with no reasonable alternative.
Reading that short deliberation with care, two hours is brief for a homicide trial. It suggests jurors did not find the state's theory of manslaughter with a firearm persuasive on the evidence, though the verdict itself offers no written explanation.
Duran was fired after the shooting. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office announced on May 31, 2024, that it had terminated Duran after completing an administrative investigation, an internal employer review. The office later said it stood by that termination decision as a result of its internal affairs investigation into his use of force. Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office
That distinction matters. Termination rested on agency policy and an administrative finding. Conviction required a unanimous criminal verdict. One did not control the other.
A federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Fortson's family remains pending after the criminal acquittal. That case will proceed under different procedures and a lower burden of proof than the criminal trial, meaning a less strict standard than beyond a reasonable doubt.
The broader context here is the three-track structure that now follows many fatal police encounters in the United States. Criminal prosecution tests individual culpability, or whether a person faces prison. Internal review tests compliance with agency policy, or whether workplace rules were broken. Civil litigation tests liability for damages, or whether compensation is owed. Each can reach a different result on similar facts without contradicting the others in a legal sense.
Looking at what this means for the participants, the criminal case is closed but exposure is not. Duran remains out of the sheriff's office, with the agency holding to its termination decision. The Fortson family retains a civil forum where the body-camera video and the false disturbance call will likely be revisited.
