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Black Man Arrested In The Hanging Death Of Tasia Fortune
In the wake of the spate of suspicious hanging deaths of Black folk across the country, many have raised eyebrows when police have ruled them “accidents,” acts of self-harm, or “inconclusive” during or after their investigations.
Given this country’s history, when a Black person is found hanged, foul play is almost always the order of the day — especially in states like Mississippi, where journalists like Ida B. Wells have been talking about Southern Black bodies hanging from trees since the 1890s.
On August 3, 29-year-old Tasia Fortune was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned house in Jackson, Miss. As previously reported by NewsOne, an alleged former boyfriend was arrested as a “person of interest” in Fortune’s death, but that is not the man who police picked up on Friday, Sept. 11.
3WLBT reports that Jackson Police (JPD) announced that 51-year-old Jarques “Jock” Ratliff had been arrested in direct connection to Fortune’s death on Friday. On Thursday, the day before, the Jackson Medical Examiner updated Fortune’s cause of death to “homicide.”
In the weeks since Fortune’s body was found, there were clarion calls across the nation for a thorough investigation into exactly what happened to the mother of four. The week before, a Jackson councilman vowed to keep JPD’s feet to the fire in demanding answers about Fortune’s death.
Fortune’s family has also been especially vocal in asking for transparency and raising awareness of Fortune’s demise.
Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, said Friday after police told her of the arrest: “I just started crying and told them ‘thank you, thank you, thank you.’”
The Guardian reports that Spivey revealed that police did not share a motive or whether DNA led to the arrest.
“We still don’t have a lot of answers,” Spivey said.
The Jackson police department said it expects to make more arrests in Fortune’s death.
SEE ALSO:
Black Woman Found Hanging From A Tree In Jackson, Mississippi
Black Woman Found Hanging In Jackson Identified As Tasia Fortune
Black People Found Hanging In 2026: The Deaths Raising Questions Across The Country
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