Police believe Tasia Fortune’s hanging was staged as new details revealed in court

JACKSON, Miss. — Authorities believe Tasia Fortune’s hanging was staged and that she was possibly killed at another location before being found behind an abandoned Mississippi home, a detective said in court Friday.

New details about Fortune’s death last month were revealed during a court hearing for Jarques Ratliff, one of the two men arrested and charged with murder.

At a court hearing earlier this month, Ratliff, 51, was denied bond after he pleaded not guilty.

Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman, was found hanging from a tree behind the Jackson home on Aug. 3. Officials believe she may have been dead for two or three days before she was found.

A motive in the killing and a cause of death have not been released.

A detective said at Friday’s hearing that there may have been an issue over missing illegal narcotics. The detective declined to release additional details because the grand jury has not received all of the evidence.

Ratliff, 51, told the court that Fortune was his friend.

His attorney, Toney Baldwin, said he wants the “truth about what happened to come out.”

“My client said he’s not involved and that’s absolutely what I believe,” he said.

Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, said she wants to know what evidence police have.

The other man arrested and charged in Fortune’s death is Earnest Lloyd Jr. Police have also obtained a warrant for a third suspect. Both Lloyd and Ratliff are Black.

Lloyd, 25, allegedly had a physical altercation with Fortune either days or minutes before she died, NBC affiliate WLBT of Jackson reported. He was accused of hanging Fortune with a black cable cord, according to the news station.

Bracey Harris reported from Jackson, Mississippi, and Minyvonne Burke reported from Pittsburgh.