A person has been arrested and might be charged with murder in reference to the loss of life of a 29-year-old Black girl whose physique was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi final month, police introduced Friday.
Tasia Fortune, a mom of 4, was discovered useless “in a dangling place” on a tree behind a vacant house in Jackson on Aug. 3, police mentioned.
Her loss of life has been dominated a murder, Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney mentioned throughout a press briefing on Friday. The medical expert’s workplace made the classification on Thursday, a month after her post-mortem was accomplished, she mentioned.
“With that dedication, our investigators moved rapidly,” Brackney mentioned.
Police secured two search warrants and an arrest warrant for the suspect, who was taken into custody Friday afternoon, she mentioned.
Christy Spivey poses with a portrait of her late daughter Tasia Fortune, Sept. 8, 2026, in Marion, Kentucky.
AP Photograph/George Walker IV
Police mentioned the suspect had an “affiliation” with Fortune however declined to supply further particulars.
Extra arrests are anticipated within the case, the police chief mentioned.
“That arrest at present is a vital improvement on this investigation, however it isn’t the conclusion,” Brackney mentioned. “This case stays energetic, and extra arrests might be pending as our investigators proceed to comply with the proof wherever it leads.”
Fortune’s physique was present in varied levels of decomposition, Brackney mentioned. The police chief didn’t say how Fortune was killed, solely saying she was “discovered within the place of hanging.”
Brackney acknowledged that the case has “raised questions and the need for solutions given Mississippi’s historical past.”
“We perceive this case is being seen by means of a broader lens, a world lens, and we don’t dismiss these issues. We’re taking them severely,” she mentioned. “On the identical time, we do have a duty to be sure that what we are saying publicly is supported by our proof and information.”
