Mississippi Police Arrest Second Suspect in Death of Woman Found Hanging from Tree

Jackson, Miss. – Police have made a second arrest in the death of Tasia Fortune, a Black woman whose body was found hanging from a tree in Jackson on August 3. Authorities have also issued an arrest warrant for a third suspect in connection with the case.

Earnest Lloyd Jr., 25, was arrested late Tuesday, according to the Jackson Police Department. Lloyd, like Fortune and the first suspect arrested, Jarques Ratliff, is Black. Ratliff, 51, was arrested in September and charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond.

Police stated that an arrest warrant has been issued for a third individual, but no further details regarding this person's identity or their alleged involvement have been released.

When Ratliff was arrested, Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney indicated that Ratliff had an association with Fortune, but did not provide further specifics. The manner of Fortune's death has drawn significant attention, evoking historical lynchings in the Southern state, though police have not specified a motive or commented on whether race played a role in the killing.

Fortune, originally from Kentucky, had four children and had been living in Jackson for approximately a decade, according to her relatives. Her mother, Christy Spivey, previously stated that Fortune had faced periods of homelessness in recent years and that she was unsure of her daughter's living situation at the time of her death. Spivey also shared that Fortune had aspirations of starting a cleaning business and was working to improve her life before she died.