The immunity hearing for former Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran began Monday. The court heard from witnesses, including the girlfriend of U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, who was on a FaceTime call with him when he was shot and killed by Duran in 2024.
Attorneys for Duran filed a motion for immunity under the state’s Stand Your Ground Laws. Duran, who was fired from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office after the shooting, faces a manslaughter charge. The trial is scheduled for Sept. 28.
State Attorney Mark Alderman is representing the State of Florida in the criminal case against Duran. Duran’s defense team is led by Ron Smith along with Michael Flowers and John D. Whitaker.
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Fortson’s friends and family, including his mother, Meka, came from Atlanta to be at the hearing wearing red shirts that read “Accountability Not Immunity. He was home. He posed no threat. He deserved to live.”
May 3, 2024
Duran was responding to a reported domestic disturbance at the Chez Elan apartments on May 3, 2024, when he arrived at Fortson’s apartment. Duran’s unedited body camera footage was shown during Monday’s hearing. At that time, Meka and a handful of others excused themselves from the courtroom. In the footage, Fortson appears to be holding a gun pointed toward the ground. Duran immediately fired multiple shots. As Fortson was on the ground, Duran yelled for him to drop his gun. Fortson replied, “It’s over there … I don’t have it.”
After the shooting, Duran hit the wall outside the apartment and yelled an expletive, “f---.”
Fortson’s close friend, Charles Johnson, who he served with in the Air Force, testified that he was with Fortson shortly before he was shot. They played video games. Fortson was in a good mood, he said.
Fortson’s girlfriend, Tatyiana Hendricks, was on FaceTime with Fortson that afternoon on May 3.
Defense attorneys asked Hendricks about her statement in a previous deposition that PTSD had “wiped her memory clean,” but she said memories have come back over time.
She recalled that Duran knocked three times on Fortson’s door. The first knock was too quiet to decipher, and with the second knock, he didn’t see anyone in the peephole and told Hendricks he wasn’t going to answer it. When Duran knocked a third time, she said Fortson went to get his gun. Neither of them heard Duran announce himself, she said.
Fortson set the phone down at that point, and Hendricks could only see the ceiling fan. She started recording from her phone when she heard what she called “commotion.”
Hendricks said she didn’t realize what she heard was gunshots until she heard Duran announce that Fortson was shot six times and called for EMS. Hendricks called Meka from another phone to tell her what happened.
“I heard Roger say he couldn’t breathe,” she recalled.
A call to OCSO
Fortson’s downstairs neighbor, Calan Sims, testified Monday she heard an argument that, she said, was getting out of hand. She called the leasing office who advised her to call the sheriff’s office if she was concerned. The noise “simmered down,” Sims said, and she decided not to call. About 10 minutes later, she heard gunshots and then called law enforcement.
Keely Rodriguez, the leasing consultant at the Chez Elan apartments, testified that she called the Sheriff’s Office’s non-emergency line after speaking with Sims. The recorded call was played for the court. During the call, she went outside to the apartment block to tell if she could hear any arguing, which she did not. When Duran arrived at the scene, she led him to Fortson’s apartment.
Monday’s hearing also included testimony about photos from the crime scene technician and a detailed explanation of Fortson’s autopsy from District 1 Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Danielle Armstrong. Judge William F. Stone used his authority to ban the viewing of autopsy photos.
The hearing is scheduled to continue until Wednesday, Aug. 5. However, attorneys said it could possibly conclude tomorrow.
