Police Say Tasia Fortune's Body Was Hanged After Her Death in Mississippi Case
JACKSON, Miss. — Investigators believe Tasia Fortune, a Black woman, was already dead when her body was hanged from a tree behind an abandoned home in Mississippi’s capital this summer, a Jackson police detective testified Friday.
The body was found Aug. 3. Det. Samuel Dukes testified that the hanging itself was "staged," citing the opinion of the medical examiner.
Authorities have not released the exact cause of Fortune’s death, but they have ruled it a homicide. Two Black men have been arrested on murder charges, and police have issued a warrant for a third person.
Dukes also testified that the apparent motive was a drug dispute. He said interviews indicated Fortune fought hard before she was killed.
The case has drawn widespread attention because the scene recalled lynchings in Mississippi, a Southern state with a long and painful history of racial violence. That history has made the investigation especially sensitive and has increased pressure on authorities to explain what happened, even as police have described an alleged drug dispute as the apparent motive. Authorities have not said why they believe the defendants hanged Fortune’s body after she was already dead.
Dukes testified at a hearing for Jarques Ratliff, 51, the first person arrested in the case earlier this month. Ratliff, who has pleaded not guilty, remains in custody at the Hinds County jail without bond. The purpose of the hearing, which is scheduled to resume Sept. 30, is to determine whether there is enough evidence to send the case to a grand jury for a possible indictment.
Police arrested a second defendant, 25-year-old Earnest Lloyd Jr., this week.
During Friday’s hearing, Ratliff said Fortune had been a friend of his.
Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, has said her daughter, who had four children, struggled with homelessness in recent years and that she was not sure where Fortune was living at the time of her death. Spivey said Fortune had talked about starting a cleaning business and was trying to get her life in order.