A man has been arrested in connection with the death of Tasia Fortune, a Black woman found hanging from a tree in Jackson, Mississippi. Police discovered Fortune's body in the backyard of an abandoned home on August 3. The state medical examiner's office ruled the death a homicide, according to Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney.
Arrest made after warrants secured
At a news conference on Friday, September 11, Brackney said police had secured search and arrest warrants for the man and arrested him when they encountered him walking on the street. The medical examiner's determination allowed police to execute the warrants they already had on hand.
“This case remains active and additional arrests will be pending,” Brackney said.
Family reacts to the arrest
Fortune's mother, Christy Spivey, said Friday after police told her of the arrest, “I just started crying and told them ‘thank you, thank you, thank you.’” Spivey said police did not share a motive or whether DNA led them to the arrest. She said she did not know the man arrested but was asking her daughter's friends if they knew him. Spivey described the family as “in disbelief” and “shock.”
“We still don’t have a lot of answers,” Spivey said.
Context of recent hangings
Fortune died less than a year after the hanging deaths of 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.
