The former Okaloosa County deputy who shot and killed decorated Sr. Airman Robert Fortson was denied pre-trial release today.
- Eddie Duran was arrested yesterday after State Attorney Ginger Madden filed one count of manslaughter with a firearm against him on Friday. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years.
A new Florida statute requires that he stay in custody without bond because he is charged with a first-degree felony. The Okaloosa County Circuit Court judge told Duran that he would remain in jail until his next hearing.
On Friday, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office issued this statement on Friday:
“We continue to wish Mr. Fortson’s family comfort and peace, as the former deputy’s criminal case proceeds.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) has been fully accountable and transparent in its compliance with statutory requirements, providing numerous public statements, making accessible the available body-worn camera footage and other related records, meeting with Mr. Forston’s family and legal counsel, and communicating openly with the U.S. Air Force and our community at-large.
We stand by our decision to terminate Mr. Duran as a result of the administrative internal affairs investigation that found his use of force was not objectively reasonable.”
Levin Papantonio’s Brian Barr and civil rights attorney Ben Crump represent Airman Fortson’s family. Barr appeared on “Real News with Rick Outzen” this morning. They intend to pursue lawsuits against the sheriff’s office and the apartment complex.
“There are steps you have to take under Florida law before you can sue a sheriff’s department,” Barr said, “They’re a Florida agency, so there are these administrative steps you have to take first, and we’re in the process of doing that. But as soon as we possibly can, we want to get that case going.”
He continued, “I’m hopeful it doesn’t have to come to that. The sheriff’s department will have to mean what they said when they talked about how they would make this right if it turned out to be an unjustified shooting, charging the officer. That’s a step in the right direction, but that’s not the complete picture. If we’re going to do accountability, we need to do full accountability, and that’s what we’re making sure happens.”
Photo by Will Francis on Unsplash