The mother of a woman found hanging from a tree in Mississippi says her daughter must have 'fought for her life' amid allegations her killing was 'staged to look like a lynching'.
Tasia Fortune's body was found behind an abandoned home in Mississippi on August 3, prompting local fears of a lynching. Authorities ruled the death a homicide and arrested two men, both Black, on murder charges.
Court hears of 'staged' hanging
Jackson police Detective Samuel Dukes told a court that Fortune was killed in a drugs dispute and fought hard with her attackers before she died. Citing the medical examiner's opinion, he also said the hanging was 'staged.'
Fortune was Black, and the discovery of her hanging body stoked fear because the scene recalled actual lynchings in the Southern state, which has a long and troubled history of racist killings. Authorities have not disclosed the exact cause of Fortune's death or said why they think her body was hanged afterward.
Mother speaks outside court
Outside court, Fortune's mother, Christy Spivey, said she had been aware that her daughter died before her body was hanged. But that step, she added, 'brought all the attention to it.'
'What bothered me was they said Tasia fought for her life. I know she did. I know my daughter,' Spivey told reporters.
The hearing was meant to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to send the case against the first man arrested, Jarques Ratliff, to a grand jury for a possible indictment. Ratliff, 51, was arrested in mid-September and has pleaded not guilty. He remains jailed without bond.
Second suspect arrested
Police arrested a second defendant, 25-year-old Earnest Lloyd Jr., this week. A 45-year-old man turned himself in Friday after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was charged with murder and will appear in court Monday.
During Friday's hearing, Ratliff blurted out in court that 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.'
Ratliff's stepdaughter, Lashuna Jones, was among her father's supporters at court. 'He didn't do it, and I'm behind him,' she said.
