Mississippi police said Saturday they were still investigating the death of Tasia Fortune, a Black woman found hanging from a tree last month, a day after a man was arrested in connection with the killing.
Loved ones also painted a picture of Fortune as a mother, athlete and woman of faith who they hoped would not solely be remembered for her horrific death.
Police sought and found Jarques Ratliff, 51, who is Black, and arrested him when they encountered
him walking on the street, authorities said Friday. Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney also said Friday that additional arrests are expected in the case. Ratliff should appear in Jackson Municipal Court no later than Monday morning, said André de Gruy, Mississippi's state defender.
Brackney said Ratliff had an “association” with Fortune but would not elaborate on their relationship. She said police arrested Ratliff on a homicide charge and called that “an important development” in the investigation.
“But it is not the conclusion. This case remains active, and additional arrests will be pending as our investigators continue to follow the evidence wherever it leads,” Brackney said Friday. “We understand that this case has received media attention from across the globe, and across this community.”
The state medical examiner’s office determined Thursday evening that the death was a homicide, Brackney said, allowing police to execute the warrants they already had on hand.
Police did not respond to calls and messages from The Associated Press on Saturday about potential updates to the investigation beyond confirming it was still going on.
Ratliff also did not appear in Hinds County jail records on Saturday. It couldn’t immediately be determined if he had a lawyer, and a message was left for the public defender's office. If represented by a public defender, it would be the Hinds County public defender, de Gruy said.
Christy Spivey, Fortune’s mother, said Friday after police told her of the arrest that “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. Spivey said she did not know the man who had been arrested, but she 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.
Police discovered Fortune’s body hanging in the backyard of an abandoned home in Jackson on Aug. 3.
Spivey said she was certain that her daughter, 29, would not have killed herself.
“Absolutely not. Even if she could climb that tree, no, no, she would never, ever, ever,” Spivey said.
An obituary about Fortune posted on the website of Tucker Funeral Home in Central City, Kentucky, in August stated that Fortune's “path was not always easy, and there were highs and lows.” It also stated that she skipped her junior year of high school, was a star cross-country runner, and had a strong faith in God. Services were held last month in Kentucky.
“She leaves behind a powerful legacy of resilience, rooted deeply in her unwavering faith. Even in her darkest hours, she never stopped believing in her Savior,” the obituary stated.
Fortune was also the mother of four children, but she rarely saw two of them, Spivey said. The last time Spivey saw her daughter was in late July for a planned family reunion in Kentucky that was canceled, but her daughter came to see her anyway.
“When she was there, there was this pull, like a spiritual pull to her. I needed her. I guess God knew that was going to be it,” Spivey said.
Spivey said she and Fortune's father faced racism and violence as a mixed-race couple in Crittenden County, Kentucky, before Fortune was born.
Fortune was taken from her parents and placed in foster care as a child. During her high school years, she moved around among group homes and eventually ran away to Mississippi. The obituary stated that she had lived in Jackson for 10 years.
Spivey wasn’t sure where Fortune was living at the time of her death but said her daughter had been struggling with homelessness in recent years. Fortune had two sisters and was close with them. The father of one of her children was verbally and physically abusive to Fortune, Spivey said.
Before she died, Fortune had talked about starting a cleaning business and was trying to get her life in order.
“Say her name. Keep it going,” Spivey said. “Because I’m not going to stop until I get answers.”
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Associated Press writer Josh Kelety contributed to this report.
