10
Loading video...
By Marni Rose McFall and Alex Backus
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A man has been arrested after the death of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman who was found hanging from a tree in Jackson, Mississippi, was officially ruled a homicide, police announced Friday.
Concerns over her death have echoed through the state and been heightened by Mississippi’s history of lynchings and racial violence. “We understand the questions and the desire for answers, given Mississippi’s history,” Brackney said Friday.
Her death also comes as a number of deaths of Black people, including 18-year-old Nolan Wells, have sparked concerns over race-related violence in the United States.
Read More on News
Who Was Arrested in Tasia Fortune Case?
Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney described the arrest as an “important” development but stressed that it was not the conclusion of the investigation, saying the case remains active and additional arrests are expected.
Police secured two search warrants and an arrest warrant for Jacques Ratliff as part of the investigation, Brackney said during a Friday press conference.
Officers executed the search warrants Friday afternoon but did not find Ratliff at the location. While returning to police headquarters, officers encountered him walking along Capitol Street and took him into custody without incident, according to Brackney.
“This is not closure; this is just one step as we continue to investigate this case. But it is a very important step,” Brackney said.
The chief said investigators have dedicated hundreds of hours to the case and interviewed nearly 15 people.
The medical examiner’s office classified Fortune’s death as a homicide Thursday night, more than a month after her body was discovered, Brackney said.
Fortune’s body was found on August 3, hanging from a tree in the lot of an abandoned home.
Brackney said authorities could not yet speculate about the circumstances in which Fortune was killed.
Newsweek has contacted Fortune’s family through a GoFundMe page and the Mississippi State Medical Examiner via email for comment outside of regular business hours.
Autopsy Results Still Not Available
Chief RaShall Brackney said at a City Council meeting on Tuesday that the department has been “investigating this case from day one as a homicide until we hear otherwise from the medical examiner’s office.”
Brackney added that an autopsy was done four weeks ago and that “To date, we have not received the outcomes of that autopsy.”
On September 4, Christine Spivey, Fortune’s mother, wrote in an update shared to a GoFundMe, “I was hoping to give updates and/or progress about Tasia's case by now but we are no closer than the day we found out about her murder.”
...
In the post, she said there had been a lack of communication from law enforcement. “I'm just all over the place with no answers,” she wrote.
“This is the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with, plus be strong for our family,” Spivey said.
Fortune was a mother of four and had lived in Mississippi for more than a decade.
Spivey previously told ABC News that Fortune was “strong-minded,” and “full of laughs and love.”
She also told the outlet that she did not believe Fortune’s death was suicide. “She did not do this to herself,” she said. “I know my daughter, and she did not do this to herself.”
Authorities had previously identified Terence Anderson, 65, as a person of interest in the case, who was arrested on an unrelated gun charge, NBC affiliate WLBT of Jackson reported.
Rising Concerns Over the Deaths of People of Color
Fortune’s death is the third incident in Mississippi in less than a year where police have found someone dead and hanging from a tree.
In September 2025, on the same day, the body of a Black male and the body of a white male were discovered. Both deaths were ruled suicides, but the mother of the deceased Black man, Trey Reed, contests those findings.
In July, 18-year-old Nolan Wells disappeared during a boating trip to Horn Island, a barrier island about 10 miles off the Mississippi coast, and his body was later found. Questions have been raised over his death, which has gained national attention. There is now a push for Justice Department involvement in the investigation.
Over 50,000 people have signed a petition requesting an independent investigation into the conduct of the Mississippi Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Staci Turner, following criticism of the handling of cases that involved people of color.
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat, has called for the Department of Justice to investigate what she described in a public letter as “possible modern-day lynchings,” and specifically highlighted deaths in Mississippi, including Fortune’s.
...
On August 18, the creator Ms. Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, shared a video on Instagram in which she said, “Please listen to the Black community. Black people don’t hang themselves from trees.” That video has been viewed over 17 million times as of reporting.
What Happens Next
Police are appealing for anyone with information about the case to contact Crime Stoppers at 601-355-TIPS.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Gray R. Thomas
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines