Suspect pleads not guilty in horrific tree-hanging death of young Black woman
A Mississippi man accused of murder in the hanging death of a 29-year-old Black woman behind an abandoned home pleaded not guilty during his first court appearance Monday.
Jarques Ratliff, 51, was ordered held without bond by a Municipal Court judge following his arrest Friday. The victim, Tasia Fortune, was found dead Aug. 3 hanging from a tree by a black cable cord in Jackson, the state capital. The state medical examiner later ruled her death a homicide.
Prosecutors revealed in court Monday that Ratliff allegedly attempted to hide from police officers inside a vehicle on the day of his arrest. Ratliff, who is also Black, said in court that he was not guilty. His defense attorney left the courthouse without commenting to reporters.
The grim discovery recalled Mississippi's history of racial violence and lynchings, drawing national attention to the case. However, authorities have not stated a motive or indicated that race played a role in the killing.
Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney said Friday that Ratliff and Fortune had a prior "association," though she did not elaborate on their relationship. Brackney emphasized that the investigation remains active and noted that police expect to make additional arrests.
Fortune, a Kentucky native who had lived in Jackson for about a decade, had struggled with homelessness in recent years but was attempting to get her life in order and start a cleaning business, according to her mother, Christy Spivey. Fortune was a mother of four.
Mississippi is estimated to have had the most lynchings in the nation between 1882 and 1968, with at least 581 recorded incidents in the state, according to the NAACP.
Fortune’s family have said they don’t believe she died by suicide.
"Tasia always let us know if something happened to her, that she was going to fight," Christy told WAPT. "Tasia loved life. Tasia loved living life, like, there's no way, no way that she took her own life."
Authorities noted that two other hanging deaths in Mississippi over the past year—involving a student at Delta State University and a man in Vicksburg—were investigated and determined to be suicides.
