Second man arrested in death of Mississippi woman Tasia Fortune

Jackson, Mississippi, police have arrested a second man in the death of Tasia Fortune and obtained an arrest warrant for a third suspect.

Police Chief RaShall Brackney announced the arrest at a City Council meeting Tuesday night.

NBC affiliate WLBT of Jackson identified the man as Earnest Lloyd Jr., 25.

“What I can tell you is, today, we’ve taken another person into custody and charged them with homicide in this case,” Brackney said.

The U.S. Marshals Service is assisting with the third warrant.

Fortune, a Black woman, was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned home in August. The case quickly made national headlines and raised concerns because of Mississippi’s history of racially motivated violence and distrust of police handling of death investigations involving Black people.

Over the decades, Mississippi has had more public lynchings than any other state, according to the NAACP, with 581 recorded from 1882 to 1968.

Jarques Ratliff, 51, was arrested this month and charged with murder in Fortune’s death. He was denied bond at a court hearing after he pleaded not guilty.

Ratliff and Lloyd are Black. A motive and the cause of Fortune’s death have not been released.

Police said Ratliff had an “association” with Fortune but did not release further details.

Jackson police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. It’s unclear whether Lloyd has an attorney.

Brackney said Fortune was found “in a hanging position.”

“And I need to stay with that language as we move this case forward so we do not do anything to jeopardize this case,” she said.

She said detectives are pursuing additional warrants for other suspects.

“I will guarantee there are actually more arrests to come in this incident,” she said.