Authorities believe Tasia Fortune was killed in a different location before her body was hung from a tree in what they describe as a “staged” scene, a Jackson Police Department detective testified on Friday. The motive is believed to be related to missing illegal narcotics.
Detective Samuel Dukes stated in an evidentiary hearing that investigators believe the 29-year-old Black mother of four had been dead for two to three days before her body was discovered. Two men, Jarques Ratliff and Earnest Lloyd Jr., have been arrested and charged with murder, and police are seeking to apprehend a third individual.
Fortune’s death has drawn national attention due to its resemblance to historical lynchings, particularly in the context of other recent hanging deaths of Black individuals in Mississippi and across the country. These incidents have raised alarm and suspicion, compounded by the racially charged circumstances surrounding the high-profile death of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells in Mississippi.
According to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, Dukes testified that Fortune and Ratliff were friends who were “intimate with each other.” Local outlet WLBT reported that authorities believe Lloyd used a black cable cord to hang Fortune from the tree behind the Jackson, Mississippi, house where she was found.
Attorneys for Ratliff have maintained his innocence. Toney Baldwin, Ratliff’s attorney, told reporters that he believes the truth will emerge and that his client is not involved.
Speaking after the hearing, Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, expressed her hope that the right people are being held accountable. In a GoFundMe campaign to support her family, Fortune’s aunt Etta Avolio remembered her niece as a “strong-minded, big-hearted, vibrant young woman” and stated the family's faith that justice will be served.