Man arrested in Mississippi hanging death of Tasia Fortune, ruled a homicide

Police in Jackson, Mississippi, have arrested a man in connection with 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's office determined on Thursday that Fortune's death was a homicide, a ruling that allowed investigators to execute search and arrest warrants they already held, Jackson police chief RaShall Brackney-Wheelock said at a Friday news conference.

The suspect, 51-year-old Jacques Ratliff, was arrested after officers encountered him walking on the street. Brackney-Wheelock declined to discuss a possible motive, saying only that the suspect knew Fortune.

The death of Fortune, a mother of four, has drawn national attention, both because of the severity of the crime and Mississippi's history of racist violence and lynchings. The chief acknowledged the case is being viewed through a wider, even global lens because of that history and said authorities take those concerns seriously. However, she stressed that public statements must be grounded strictly in evidence, and that officials cannot speculate about the manner of Fortune's death beyond what the medical examiner has officially confirmed. The investigation remains active, and further arrests are considered likely.

Fortune's mother, Christy Spivey, said Friday that she cried and repeatedly thanked police after learning of the arrest. She said investigators did not disclose a motive or whether DNA evidence led to the arrest. Spivey said she does not know the arrested man and has been asking her daughter's friends whether they recognize him. She described her family as in shock and disbelief, adding that many questions remain unanswered.

Fortune's death came less than a year after two other hanging deaths in Mississippi: 21-year-old Trey Reed, a Black student at Delta State University in Cleveland, and Cory Zukatis, an unhoused white man in his 30s, in Vicksburg.