For the first time, Chantimekki “Meka” Fortson, the mother of Roger Fortson, faced the man who is charged with killing her son, a U.S. Senior Airman, at a motion hearing Tuesday afternoon.
It was unexpected, said family members. Fortson had to leave the courtroom to compose herself.
Tuesday’s motion was to modify the bond order for the former Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy, Eddie Duran, who is charged with killing 23-year-old Senior Airman Roger Fortson, to allow him to leave the Northwest Florida area. Defense attorneys for Duran said it was not to relocate, but to allow Duran to visit his son in college, and work temporarily with his family in Oklahoma. Duran’s wife is currently working as a travel nurse to support the family.
Duran’s attorneys said the former deputy was not a danger to the community, and there was no risk of him avoiding trial as his name and likeness were known throughout the community and country.
RELATED: Civil rights lawsuit filed in Florida deputy's killing of US Airman Roger Fortson
Dozens gathered in the courtroom in support of Fortson. After powerful testimony from close friends and family, including Meka Fortson, Judge Lacey Powell Clark denied the motion, saying she had not heard anything compelling her to modify the original order made by Judge Terrance Ketchel.
The news was a “small step in justice,” said Asya Goode, a friend of the Fortson family, who was among those who spoke at the hearing requesting Duran to stay in Northwest Florida.
“It’s been 382 days since Roger was murdered,” Goode said at the witness stand with Roger’s younger sister, Harmoni. “(Roger) didn’t receive any warning … (Duran) received a bond, protection, and a chance to come to this courtroom and ask to be there for his family.”
“(This) is not just a tragedy but a failure of every institution,” Goode said.
Roger Fortson was shot within seconds of opening his apartment door on May 3, 2024, when Duran was responding to a reported domestic disturbance at Fortson’s residence, which turned out to be false.
Duran, 38, has been charged with manslaughter and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. In August, Duran was set free on a $100,000 bond with conditions that he could not possess a firearm or leave the area.
Meka Fortson slowly walked to the witness stand and directed most of her testimony to the judge. She said Roger “broke generational curses” in her family. She asked the judge to revoke Duran’s bond.
“My jail is way worse than any he will be in,” she said.
For the past year, Meka Fortson said she sometimes blacks out. When she hit her house with her car, she said she didn’t even feel it.
“I hit the house and people in the car said ‘you hit the house’ and I was like, ‘when?’” she said. “I hit a whole house and didn’t feel it. I’m numb.”
Meka said she was on FaceTime with her son when the shooting occurred. She heard him plead with Duran to help him. She heard him take his last breath.
RELATED: Hundreds gather in Fort Walton Beach to honor Airman Roger Fortson
In the year since her son’s death, she’s not been able to watch the bodycam footage.
“No, I just go by what people say,” she said.
After the hearing, people gathered in front of the courthouse, chanting “Say his name, Roger Fortson.” Grassroots organizers with Black Lives Matter and Party for Socialism and Liberation were also there.
Deanna Joseph of Black Lives Matter Grassroots came from Tampa to be in support. She's a survivor like Meka said it’s important to speak up.
The first step was the officer being charged, she said.
“We want full accountability,” she said. “It's time to set legal precedents, we're taking the stand and we're making a powerful stance that this is enough, enough is enough, and we're not going to take this anymore.”
Meka Fortson said she doesn’t want the case to be about the color of her son’s skin. But she does want closure. And justice.
“I need the world to see what type of man he was,” she said. “Not the color he was.”
