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Former Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran has made bail, according to Fox 10 News in Mobile. The station also reports Judge Terrance Ketchel set his bond at $100,000 despite requests from the state attorney’s office for a $250,000 bond.
According to court documents, Duran has a three-lawyer defense team. Former Okaloosa Circuit Judge Mike Flowers, Timothy Shaw and Rodney Smith.
Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested former Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy and Army veteran Eddie Lee Duran, Jr. after a warrant for his arrest went out on Friday, August 23, for the killing of Senior Airman Roger Fortson.
RELATED: Fortson Family Attorney Calls for Former Sheriff’s Deputy To Be Arrested and Charged.
According to Okaloosa County Jail records, Duran was checked into the facility at 2:50 PM on Monday, August 26.
Prosecutor Ginger Bowden Madden’s office charged Duran with Homicide-Negligent Manslaughter: Killing Human Other Than By Murder Or Homicide, according to those records.
The jail’s records note Duran was arrested 12 minutes after corrections officers reported booking him into jail.
No bond has been set by Okaloosa County District Court Judge Terrance Ketchel in Duran’s case. According to Florida State Statutes, only a judge can set or alter a defendant’s bail or bond. Additionally, a person cannot have a bond until their first appearance in front of the court in the case of manslaughter. No record of a first appearance date can be found on the Okaloosa Clerk’s website at the time of the writing of this story. The Okaloosa County Jail logs also show that Duran is still held in the facility.
No photos of Duran from his mugshot have been made available on the jail’s website at the time of this story’s writing. His mugshot is the only one of the 44 people booked into the jail with no available mugshot.
We are a long way from any trial in this manslaughter case, should one take place.
Court records indicate Duran has two court dates set so far. He will face Judge Terrance Ketchel and Prosecutor Mark Alderman on October 17 for his plea date. At that point in the process, he will either enter a ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’ plea in the case. Two months later, on December 9, 2024, Duran is scheduled for a pretrial conference.
Duran’s records do not currently show he has an attorney.
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