Latest news with #MekaFortson
CBS News
07-05-2025
- CBS News
Family sues over Florida deputy's killing of Black U.S. airman, alleging excessive and unconstitutional use of deadly force
The family of a U.S. airman who was shot by a Florida sheriff's deputy inside his own home sued the deputy, the sheriff and the owner of the airman's apartment complex on Tuesday, saying they want to ensure people are held accountable for his 2024 death. The complaint alleges that Deputy Eddie Duran used excessive and unconstitutional deadly force when he shot Roger Fortson just seconds after the Black senior airman opened his apartment door in Fort Walton Beach on May 3, 2024. Duran was responding to a domestic disturbance report at Fortson's apartment that turned out to be false. FILE - Candles and framed photos of Roger Fortson, a U.S. Air Force senior airman who was fatally shot by a Fla. sheriff's deputy on May 3, 2024, sit in the doorway of the apartment where he was killed in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., on Aug. 23. Kate Payne / AP "I want accountability because he was 23. I want accountability because he had a life ahead of him. I want accountability because he was in his own home," said Fortson's mother, Meka Fortson, who wore a shirt emblazoned with an image of her son in his Air Force uniform while appearing with the family's attorney, Ben Crump, at a press conference to announce the wrongful death lawsuit. The complaint describes failures by the county sheriff's office The complaint filed in federal court in Pensacola details alleged failures by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office in training and supervision and claims that staff at the apartment complex where Fortson lived provided misleading information that led to the fatal law enforcement response. Messages were left seeking comment from attorneys for Duran, a spokesperson for the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office and an agent for the apartment complex's management company. Duran has pleaded not guilty to a charge of manslaughter with a firearm in the shooting, which renewed debate on police killings and race, and occurred against a wider backdrop of increased attention by the military to racial issues in its ranks. Duran identifies as Hispanic, according to his voter registration. The airman's mother said she has "no faith" in Okaloosa County, expressing doubt that Duran will get a "real trial" in the Florida Panhandle community where he worked as a law enforcement officer. It is highly unusual for Florida law enforcement officers to be charged for an on-duty killing. Convictions in such cases are even rarer. "This is not policing. This is an unlawful execution," said Crump, a civil rights attorney who has been involved in a number of cases involving law enforcement killings of Black people, including those of Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, Tyre Nichols and George Floyd. "We believe Roger's death was a result of a pattern and practice here in Okaloosa County," added Crump, who announced the lawsuit at a press conference at Greater Peace Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Walton Beach. FILE - Friends and family of Roger Fortson watch as his casket leaves for the cemetery at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church on May 17, 2024, in Stonecrest, Ga. Brynn Anderson / AP The deputy mistakenly went to the wrong apartment, investigators say Duran came to Fortson's door in response to a report of a physical fight inside an apartment. A worker at the complex had identified Fortson's apartment as the location of a loud argument, according to sheriff's investigators. Fortson, who was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, was alone at the time, talking with his girlfriend on a FaceTime video call. Duran's body camera video showed what happened next. The deputy pounded at the door repeatedly and yelled, "Sheriff's office — open the door!" Fortson opened the door with his legally purchased gun in his right hand, pointed to the ground. The deputy said, "Step back," then immediately began firing. Fortson fell backward onto the floor. Only then did the deputy yell, "Drop the gun!" Deputies had never been called to Fortson's apartment before, 911 records show, but they had been called to a nearby unit 10 times in the previous eight months, including once for a domestic disturbance. Crump defended Fortson's right to answer his door with his firearm in hand. "He had a right to the Second Amendment too — to protect his home, to protect his castle," Crump said. "He didn't do anything wrong."
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
Civil rights attorney files wrongful death lawsuit against deputy charged with killing Airman
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump said he is filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Deputy who shot and killed 23-year-old U.S. senior airman Roger Fortson. Crump made the announcement Tuesday afternoon alongside Fortson's mother, Meka Fortson. 'I want accountability because he was 23. I want accountability because he was in his own home,' Meka Fortson said. The mother told Channel 2's Audrey Washington she will continue to travel to Okaloosa County, Florida, until the people she believes caused her son's death are held accountable. 'They turned an ordinary day into what would be a death sentence,' Crump said on Tuesday. Crump said Deputy Eddie Duran, who was responding to a disturbance call at the time of the shooting in 2024, showed 'excessive and unconstitutional deadly force.' RELATED STORIES: Crump noted that Duran shot and killed Fortson within seconds of Fortson answering his apartment door. Deputy body cam video showed Fortson answer his own door while holding a legally owned handgun pointed toward the floor. 'He was shot, dying with his little dog barking in the background,' Crump said. Crump also said he believed both the Okaloosa County Sheriff's office and the apartment complex where Fortson lived were responsible. 'It was the wrong apartment, and had they not based everything on speculation, then maybe the deputy would've gotten the right apartment,' Crump said. 'You're going to be held accountable and held accountable the right way,' Meka Fortson said. Duran is charged with manslaughter with a firearm.
