Aug. 29 (UPI) — A fired deputy in Florida who was charged with manslaughter in the killing of an Air Force soldier in his apartment has been granted bond in the case, a judge said Thursday.
Bond has been set at $100,000 and other conditions must be met for former Okaloosa County deputy Eddie Duran to be released, including not having contact with the family of the man he shot.
Duran was charged with manslaughter last week after he fatally shot Senior Airman Roger Fortson more than three months ago. Fortson reportedly answered the door to his apartment with a gun pointed toward the floor before he was shot by Duran — a shooting that was captured on the deputy’s body camera.
The manslaughter charge carries a maximum of 30 years in prison.
Duran, who turned himself in to authorities Monday, is detained at the Escambia County jail. The Okaloosa County Circuit Court ruled that Duran cannot possess firearms, come into contact with Fortson’s family or leave the First Judicial Circuit area of Florida, ABC News reported.
Duran, 38, was responding to a domestic disturbance call as a sheriff’s deputy and repeatedly knocked on Fortson’s door. When the airmen answered the door, he was shot almost immediately by Duran, video from the former deputy’s body camera shows.
Fortson’s attorneys have said Duran went to the wrong apartment and that Fortson was home alone with his dog and on a video call with his girlfriend at the time Duran arrived outside.
Duran was fired following an investigation into the shooting, which concluded that “Fortson did not make any hostile, attacking movements, and therefore” Duran’s “use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable” under sheriff’s office policy.
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