Second man arrested in death of Mississippi woman Tasia Fortune

Jackson police have arrested a second man in the death of Tasia Fortune and obtained an arrest warrant for a third suspect.

Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney announced the arrest during a Tuesday night city council meeting.

NBC affiliate WLBT of Jackson identified the man as Earnest Lloyd Jr., 25.

“What I can tell you is, today, we’ve taken another person into custody and charged them with homicide in this case,” Brackney said.

The U.S. Marshals are assisting with the third warrant.

Fortune, a Black woman, was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned home in Mississippi in August. The case quickly made national headlines and raised concerns because of the state’s history of racially motivated violence and distrust of police handling of death investigations involving Black people.

Over the decades, Mississippi has had more public lynchings than any other state, according to the NAACP, with 581 recorded between 1882 and 1968.

Earlier this month, Jarques Ratliff, 51, was arrested and charged with murder in Fortune’s death. He was denied bond at a court hearing after pleading not guilty.

Both Ratliff and Lloyd are Black. A motive and Fortune’s cause of death have not been released.

Police said Ratliff had an “association” with Fortune but did not release further details.

The Jackson Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. It’s unclear whether Lloyd has obtained an attorney.

Brackney said Fortune was found “in a hanging position.”

“And I need to stay with that language as we move this case forward so we do not do anything to jeopardize this case,” she said.

The chief said detectives are pursuing additional warrants for other suspects.

“I will guarantee there are actually more arrests to come in this incident,” she said.