Tasia Fortune: Man Arrested After Black Woman Found Hanging From Tree in Mississippi Last Month in Death Now Ruled Homicide
Police in Jackson, Mississippi, have arrested a man in connection with the death of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman who was found hanging from a tree behind a vacant house last month.
Jackson police chief RaShall Brackney-Wheelock said at a news conference Friday that police had obtained search and arrest warrants for Jacques Ratliff and arrested him when they encountered him walking on the street.
The state medical examiner’s office determined Thursday evening that the death was a homicide, Brackney-Wheelock said. Fortune’s death drew national attention, not only because of the brutality of the crime but also Mississippi’s history of racist violence and lynchings.
A motive behind the alleged homicide is not yet known, but Brackney noted that the suspect was a 51-year-old Black man who knew Fortune.
“We understand the questions and the desire for answers given Mississippi’s history,” Brackney said. “We understand this case is being viewed through a broader lens, a global lens, and we do not dismiss those concerns. We are taking them seriously.”
“At the same time, we do have a responsibility to make sure that what we say publicly is supported by our evidence and facts,” Brackney added. “We cannot speculate by the nature or the manner in which Ms. Fortune was killed, beyond what has been officially determined by the medical examiner.”
The investigation remains active and more arrests are likely, Brackney 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 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.
Fortune died less than a year after the hanging deaths of 21-year-old Trey Reed, a Black student at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi and Cory Zukatis, an unhoused white man in his 30s, in Vicksburg.
The deaths of Reed and Zukatis occurred on the same day, September 15, 2025, in separate Mississippi communities roughly 100 miles apart. Reed, a Black freshman at Delta State University in Cleveland, was found hanging from a tree near the university’s pickleball courts.
His death quickly drew national attention because of Mississippi’s history of racial lynching, prompting calls from his family, civil-rights advocates and some lawmakers for a thorough and transparent investigation. The Mississippi State Medical Examiner ultimately ruled Reed’s death a suicide, finding no evidence of foul play, although his family has questioned that conclusion and sought an independent autopsy.
Hours later, Cory Zukatis, a 35-year-old unhoused white man from Brandon, was found hanging from a tree in a wooded area off Washington Street in Vicksburg. Police said at the time that the deaths of Zukatis and Reed did not appear to be connected.
Authorities initially declined to speculate on the manner of Zukatis’ death pending an autopsy; subsequent reporting has described both cases as suicides. The striking proximity in time of the two deaths nevertheless intensified public concern and scrutiny, particularly given the circumstances surrounding Reed’s death and Mississippi’s history.
