Black woman found hanging from tree was dead before body was 'staged', police say
Mississippi police stated that Tasia Fortune was already dead before her body was staged to appear as a hanging in a tree. The 29-year-old mother of four was found in Jackson in August, leading to widespread concerns due to the state's history of racial violence. Three individuals have been arrested in connection with the homicide, which authorities believe was related to a drug dispute.
- ▪Police disclosed in court that Tasia Fortune was killed before her body was placed in a tree to simulate a hanging.
- ▪The medical examiner determined that Fortune's death was a homicide and that the scene was staged.
- ▪Three people, including Jarques Ratliff, Earnest Lloyd Jr, and Eric Clark, have been arrested in relation to the case.
- ▪Fortune's mother, Christy Spivey, stated that police informed her the incident was drug-related and that her daughter was dead before being hanged.
- ▪Lawmakers have called for federal investigations into hanging deaths of Black people following this and other recent incidents.
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| Original publisher | BBC News — World |
| Canonical URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwp933nzpp9ro?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss |
| Publication time | Sat, 26 Sep 2026 01:16:29 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-26T01:20:23.567Z |
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Black woman found hanging from tree was dead before body was 'staged', police sayImage source, Christy SpiveyBySareen Habeshian and Brandon DrenonPublished25 September 2026Updated 3 minutes agoWarning: This story contains distressing detailsPolice in the US state of Mississippi have said that they believe a black woman was already dead before her body was "staged" and placed hanging in a tree.The disclosure was made in court by a detective on Friday, who also said they believed Tasia Fortune, a mother of four, had been killed in a dispute related to drugs.The 29-year-old's body was found hanging from a tree on the grounds of an abandoned home in Jackson in August.The discovery sparked widespread fears in the majority-black city, due to the state's deep history of racial violence and…
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