FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. — Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump says he will file a lawsuit against a former Florida sheriff’s deputy and others for the May 2024 shooting death of 23-year-old U.S. Senior Airman Roger Fortson.
Former Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran shot and killed Fortson, who was Black, at the door of Fortson’s apartment. Duran has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. That criminal case is pending.
Crump plans a news conference Tuesday afternoon with Fortson family members in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, to discuss the lawsuit.
Crump says his lawsuit will contend that Duran used “excessive and unconstitutional deadly force” in the shooting. It will also outline what it calls failures of training and supervision at the sheriff’s office and claim the apartment complex where Fortson was shot provided “misleading, unverified information” that led to the violent response.
Authorities say Duran had been directed to Fortson’s Fort Walton Beach apartment in response to a domestic disturbance report that turned out to be false. After repeated knocking, Fortson opened the door while holding his handgun at his side, pointed down. Authorities say Duran shot him multiple times before telling Fortson to drop the gun.
Duran, 39, began his law enforcement career as a military police officer in the Army. An Oklahoma police department hired him in 2015 after his military discharge. He joined the Okaloosa County sheriff’s office in 2019, resigned two years later and then rejoined the sheriff’s office in 2023.
Okaloosa Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran after Fortson’s death because an internal investigation concluded Duran’s life was not in danger when he opened fire.
Duran identifies as Hispanic, according to his voter registration.
Fortson grew up in Atlanta and joined the Air Force in 2019, the year he graduated from high school.
The apartment complex where Fortson lived is about 8 miles (13 kilometers) from Hurlburt Field. He was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions aviator, where one of his roles was to load a gunship’s 30 mm and 105 mm weapons.
His death was one of a growing list of killings of Black people by law enforcement in their own homes. It also renewed debate over Florida’s “stand your ground” law.
The case is in the pretrial hearing phase, with a hearing on motions set for May 20. Duran is out of jail on bond.
Crump, 55, is a well-known Black attorney based in Tallahassee, Florida, who has worked on numerous high-profile civil right cases and wrongful death lawsuits. His cases have included those involving other Black people who have been killed by law enforcement, including Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Michael Brown.