05/10/2026
Roger Fortson was only 23 years old, a U.S. Air Force airman who was inside his own apartment when a knock at the door turned into a deadly encounter.
On May 3, 2024, Deputy Eddie Duran responded to a reported disturbance at an apartment complex in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The call turned out not to involve Roger, who was home alone and on a FaceTime call with his girlfriend. According to reporting on the case, Roger heard someone knocking, looked through the peephole and did not see anyone, then retrieved his legally owned fi***rm before opening the door.
Body-camera footage showed Roger opening the door with the gun pointed downward. Duran fired almost immediately. Roger was hit multiple times and later died at the hospital. The footage also captured Roger saying that he did not have the gun after he had been shot.
Duran was later fired by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office. An internal investigation concluded that the use of deadly force was unreasonable and that Duran's life was not in danger. Duran was eventually charged with manslaughter and the case went to trial.
This week, after a four-day trial and roughly two hours of deliberation, a Florida jury found Duran not guilty of manslaughter. The verdict is now the legal outcome of the criminal case, although Roger's family is continuing to pursue a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Whatever someone thinks about the verdict, the loss for Roger's family is something no courtroom decision can change. He was 23 years old, serving his country and living his life, and his family will never get another ordinary moment with him.
After the verdict, Roger's mother expressed the pain of losing her son in heartbreaking words: “I’m never going to hear my baby’s voice no more.”
That sentence says so much about what remains after the cameras stop, the lawyers leave the courtroom and the jury goes home. A family is still left without their son, brother and loved one.
Roger Fortson's story continues to raise difficult questions about police use of force, accountability and what happened in those few seconds at his apartment door. His family now has to live with the loss while the legal fight continues.
