Family sues after U.S. airman Roger Fortson killed by Florida deputy in his home
Florida Family sues after U.S. airman Roger Fortson killed by Florida deputy in his home
Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was shot and killed inside his apartment by deputies with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, attorneys say.
10 Tampa Bay via Facebook
The mother of slain U.S. airman Roger Fortson is demanding justice from those she deems responsible for gunning down her 23-year-old son inside his apartment last year through a lawsuit filed Tuesday alleging excessive force, wrongful death, municipal liability and other wrongdoings.
Chantimekki 'Meka' Fortson, with civil rights attorney Ben Crump, has sued the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Eddie Duran, the Elan Apartments where the Black airman lived and a leasing agent identified as Jane Doe.
'Mr. Fortson, who was lawfully in possession of a legally owned firearm and posed no threat, was killed as a result of a cascade of negligent, reckless and unconstitutional actions by both law enforcement and the apartment complex where he resided,' the suit read.
Duran is the since-fired and criminally charged deputy who is alleged to have fatally shot Fortson. In August, he was charged with manslaughter with a firearm, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. His sheriff's office admonished his actions for an unnecessary use of force.
READ MORE: Florida deputy fired after investigation into his killing of a Black U.S. airman
Fortson was killed May 3 in his off-base Fort Walton Beach apartment, which is located between Pensacola and Panama City. He served as an AC-130J Ghostrider gunner with the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field.
That afternoon, while alone in his apartment and on a FaceTime call with his girlfriend, a leasing agent at Elan Apartments called the Okaloosa Sheriff's Office, reporting a possible domestic disturbance, the lawsuit said. Crump and Chantimekki claim the agent's claim was unverified and based on secondhand information.
Based on that information, Duran was sent to his apartment, which started a tense confrontation that devolved into Fortson's death. The sheriff's office released 'objective facts' on the pair's interaction.
Doran waited at Fortson's door and listened for sounds of the possible 'disturbance.' Hearing nothing, he knocked without announcing he was a deputy. He said he heard 'something to the effect of it's the (expletive) police.'
Doran knocked loudly two more times, this time announcing himself. When Forston opened the door, Doran saw him holding a gun in his right hand. The gun was pointed at the ground 'sufficiently enough for the former deputy to clearly see the rear face of the rear sight,' according to the sheriff's office's account.
Almost immediately after opening the door, Doran shot him six times. In its findings, the sheriff's office concluded Fortson did not physically resist in any way and did not point the gun at Doran, which was seen in earlier released body camera footage.
'This was a catastrophic failure on every level: By a deputy who used unjustifiable force, by a sheriff's office that failed to train its officers properly, and by an apartment employee whose reckless assumptions set this deadly chain of events into motion,' said Attorney Ben Crump.
READ MORE: Black airman shot to death by a Florida deputy who blitzed wrong apartment, attorneys say
The lawsuit pointed out body camera footage and an internal affairs report confirmed that Fortson never raised his weapon and posed no threat.
'Roger Fortson was a proud service member, a loving son, and a young man with his whole life ahead of him,' Crump said. 'He deserved to feel safe in his own home. Instead, he was killed where he should have been safest, based on hearsay and bias. This lawsuit is about justice for Roger and accountability for those responsible for his needless death.'
Devoun Cetoute
Miami Herald Go to X Go to Facebook Email this person 305-376-2026
Miami Herald Cops and Breaking News Reporter Devoun Cetoute covers a plethora of Florida topics, from breaking news to crime patterns. He was on the breaking news team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2022. He's a graduate of the University of Florida, born and raised in Miami-Dade. Theme parks, movies and cars are on his mind in and out of the office.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
