Overview
- Chantimekki Fortson held a news conference with civil rights attorney Ben Crump to refocus attention on her son’s killing and demand transparency.
- Roger Fortson, 23, was fatally shot in May 2024 at his Fort Walton Beach apartment after a deputy was directed to his unit on a domestic disturbance report later deemed false.
- Body-camera and investigative records indicate Fortson opened the door holding a handgun pointed down before Deputy Eddie Duran fired multiple times and then ordered him to drop the weapon.
- Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran in 2024, and prosecutors charged him with manslaughter with a firearm, a rarely filed first-degree felony against an on-duty officer; Duran remains free on bond awaiting trial.
- The family is pursuing a federal civil lawsuit, and 911 logs show prior calls to a nearby unit but none to Fortson’s apartment.