Police say Fortune was killed before her body was placed in a tree. A judge set a $5 million bond Monday for the latest man charged, while investigators continue to seek answers.
By Haitian Tribune Staff | September 28, 2026
JACKSON, Mississippi — On August 3, police found 29-year-old Tasia Fortune’s body hanging from a tree behind a vacant house on Road of Remembrance in Jackson. Fortune was a Black mother of four. The discovery frightened residents and drew national attention because it evoked Mississippi’s history of racial lynching. At the time, authorities had not publicly established how she died.
Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, rejected the possibility that her daughter had taken her own life. She described Fortune as a woman who had faced difficult periods, including recent housing instability, but was trying to build a future and had talked about starting a cleaning business.
The case changed on September 10, when the state medical examiner classified Fortune’s death as a homicide. Jackson police arrested Jarques Ratliff, 51, the next day. Police said he knew Fortune but did not explain their relationship. Ratliff pleaded not guilty and was denied bond.
Police arrested a second man, Earnest Lloyd Jr., 25, on September 22 and charged him with murder. He was also denied bond. Investigators alleged that Lloyd had an altercation with Fortune and accused him of using a black cable cord to hang her. Those allegations have not been proven in court.
At a September 25 hearing in Ratliff’s case, Jackson police Detective Samuel Dukes testified that Fortune had been killed during a dispute involving drugs and had fought her attackers. Citing the medical examiner’s findings, he said the hanging was staged: investigators believe Fortune died elsewhere, two to three days before her body was found, and was then placed in the tree. Authorities have not publicly disclosed the exact cause of death or established why the body was displayed that way. Ratliff’s hearing is scheduled to resume September 30.
A third man, Eric Clark, 45, surrendered to police on September 25 and was charged with murder. At his first court appearance Monday, Judge Jeffrey Reynolds set bond at $5 million. Detective Robert Taylor testified that a witness described Fortune leaving a Capitol Street house with Clark and another man and never returning. Taylor also described witness accounts concerning clothing, shoes and Fortune’s purse. Police said DNA testing was still pending; the testimony remains part of the prosecution’s developing case, not an established account of everything that happened.
What the Evidence Does—and Does Not—Show
The homicide ruling and testimony about the staged scene answer a central question raised in August: investigators do not believe Fortune died by suicide in that tree. They do not yet provide a complete, publicly proven account of who killed her, each defendant’s role or the reason her body was displayed. Police say the investigation remains active and further arrests are possible. All three men charged are presumed innocent unless convicted.
The image of a Black woman hanging from a tree understandably raised fears of a racially motivated killing. The police account now points to a staged scene and testimony about a drug dispute, but officials have not publicly resolved every question about motive. The Haitian Tribune’s analysis is that the case must be judged on tested evidence, while taking seriously the fear the scene caused and the family’s demand for a full explanation. Spivey has attended the hearings and continues to seek answers about her daughter’s final days.
