Man arrested over death of Mississippi woman found hanging from a tree

Police in Jackson, Mississippi, have arrested a man in the death of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman found hanging from a tree behind a vacant house last month. The state medical examiner on Thursday ruled Fortune’s death a homicide.

Jackson police chief RaShall Brackney-Wheelock said at a news conference Friday that police had secured search and arrest warrants for Jacques Ratliff and arrested him when they encountered him walking on the street.

The state medical examiner’s office determined Thursday evening that the death was a homicide, Brackney-Wheelock said, allowing them to execute the warrants they already had on hand.

The killing of the mother of four has attracted national attention, both because of the severity of the crime and Mississippi’s brutal history of racist violence and lynchings.

Brackney acknowledged the media interest, but declined to discuss motive, other than saying the suspect, a 51-year-old Black man, knew Fortune.

“We understand the questions and the desire for answers given Mississippi’s history,” Brackney said. “We understand this case is being viewed through a broader lens, a global lens, and we do not dismiss those concerns. We are taking them seriously.”

“At the same time, we do have a responsibility to make sure that what we say publicly is supported by our evidence and facts,” Brackney added. “We cannot speculate by the nature or the manner in which Ms. Fortune was killed, beyond what has been officially determined by the medical examiner.”

The investigation remains active and more arrests are likely, Brackney said.

Christy Spivey, Fortune’s mother, said Friday after police told her of the arrest that, “I just started crying and told them ‘thank you, thank you, thank you.’”

Spivey said police did not share a motive or whether DNA led them to the arrest. Spivey said she did not know the man who had been arrested, but was asking her daughter’s friends if they knew him. Spivey described the family as “in disbelief” and “shock”.

“We still don’t have a lot of answers,” Spivey said.

Fortune died less than a year after the hanging deaths of 21-year-old Trey Reed, a Black student at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi and Cory Zukatis, an unhoused white man in his 30s, in Vicksburg.

The Guardian wp:paragraph