A 51-year-old man has been charged with murder after the death of Tasia Fortune, whose body was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned house in Jackson, Mississippi.
Jarques Ratliff was arrested on Friday, September 11, after the state medical examiner classified the 29-year-old’s death as a homicide. Police Chief RaShall Brackney said investigators had secured two search warrants and an arrest warrant before officers found Ratliff walking along Capitol Street.
Ratliff, who has an address in Jackson, was charged with murder, according to Hinds County jail records. He was expected to appear in Jackson Municipal Court by Monday morning. It was not immediately clear whether he had legal representation.
Brackney said Ratliff had an association with Fortune but declined to explain the nature of their relationship. She said additional arrests were expected as detectives continued to examine the evidence.
“This is not closure,” Brackney said. “This is just one step as we continue to investigate this case.”
Police have interviewed nearly 15 people in connection with the case. Brackney said investigators had been unable to execute the warrants until the medical examiner formally determined that Fortune’s death was a homicide. ([mississippitoday.org](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/09/11/tasia-fortune-jackson-police-arrest/))
Fortune was found on August 3 in the backyard of a vacant property in the 500 block of Road of Remembrance, in west Jackson. Her death drew national attention because she was a Black woman found hanging in a state with a long and painful history of racial violence.
Her mother, Christy Spivey, said police notified her of the arrest but had not provided a motive or explained whether DNA evidence played a role. She said the family remained in shock.
“We still don’t have a lot of answers,” Spivey said.
Spivey has maintained that her daughter would not have taken her own life. She described Fortune as a mother of four who had been a talented cross-country runner and a woman of strong religious faith.
A makeshift memorial of flowers, balloons, teddy bears and pinwheels has been placed near the property where Fortune was found. Her family has held services in Kentucky, where she grew up, and continues to press authorities for a full account of what happened.
Brackney said the investigation remained active and urged the public to wait for evidence to be tested and assessed before drawing conclusions. ([mississippitoday.org](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/09/11/tasia-fortune-jackson-police-arrest/))
