The body of Senior Airman Roger Negale Fortson has returned to Atlanta for burial.
Forston, 23, was shot to death May 3 by an Okaloosa County, Florida, sheriff’s deputy. Sheriff’s officials say the deputy was responding to a call of a disturbance in progress at an apartment complex and Forston was holding a gun. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Fortson family, has accused the deputy of going to the wrong apartment and said the shooting was unjustified.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.
After his death, Forston’s mother said he was her “gift” and the person who taught her to love and forgive.
“He was trying to give me everything that I never could get for myself,” his mother, Chantemekki Fortson, said Thursday at a news conference in Fort Walton Beach.
At Thursday’s news conference, Fortson held a large framed portrait of her son in dress uniform. He joined the Air Force in 2019, the same year he graduated from Ronald McNair High School in DeKalb County.
“Roger enlisted in the military after graduating from high school with honors and had no criminal record,” Crump said in media statement. “By all accounts, he was a stellar member of the Air Force and loved by his community.”
Forston’s body arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Tuesday afternoon and escorted from the plane by the Delta Honor Guard.
The funeral for Fortson will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, located at 6400 Woodrow Road in Stonecrest, according to his obituary. A public viewing and visitation will be held Thursday from noon until 8 p.m. Donald Trimble Mortuary is handling arrangements.
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— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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