Jackson woman’s hanging was ‘part of a staging’ after death, police say

The body of a 29-year-old woman found hanging from a tree in Jackson, Mississippi, in August was “part of the staging” of a crime scene, the city’s Police Chief RaShall Brackney told reporters Monday, after a suspect in the case appeared in court for a bond hearing.

Judge Jeffrey Reynolds set a $5 million bond for Eric Clark, 45, who turned himself in Friday after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He is charged with the murder of Tasia Fortune, 29, a Black woman and Kentucky native, who was killed in a drug-related incident and likely died days before she was found hanged behind an abandoned home, police said last week.

The case has garnered widespread attention due to Mississippi’s history of racist violence and lynchings.

“People justifiably didn’t know if we had a killer on the loose who might hang people for racial reasons,” Reynolds said Monday, adding that it was a “heinous” act that shocked the state capital.

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Earnest Lloyd Jr., 25, arrested last week, and Jarques Ratliff, 51, arrested in mid-September, have also been charged with Fortune’s murder; all three suspects are Black.

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Lloyd allegedly had a physical altercation with Fortune in the lead-up to her killing. He appeared in court last week and pleaded not guilty to murder charges, according to local media reports.

A hearing on Friday was meant to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to send the case against Ratliff to a grand jury for a possible indictment. It will resume Sept. 30.

Ratliff has pleaded not guilty. He remains in jail without bond.

More arrests were likely, Brackney said.

“This has created even more damage in our communities,” she added.

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“We know we have a very sordid history around lynchings and racial terror across this nation and particularly around the South. That is still a very current narrative. It is still a very raw narrative.”

The exact cause of Fortune’s death has not been disclosed, but authorities have ruled the incident a homicide.

Speaking with reporters last week, Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, said she was aware that her daughter died before her body was hanged, an act she said “brought all the attention” to the case.

In an earlier interview, Spivey said that she believes Jackson police are “headed in the right direction” in the investigation, and that her daughter had been struggling with homelessness and “trying to get her children back,” two of whom were adopted at birth. A third and fourth child were in the care of other family members, she said.

Spivey was not sure where her daughter had been living at the time of her death, she added.

During Friday’s court appearance, he said he and Fortune were friends.

“It sounded sincere. Tasia had a lot of friends,” Spivey said later. “I hope if he is innocent that he can prove he’s innocent. We don’t want any innocent people going to jail.”

She said Fortune had talked about starting a cleaning business and was trying to get her life in order before her death.

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Ratliff’s stepdaughter also maintained his innocence in court, saying, “He didn’t do it, and I’m behind him.”