Man arrested in Tasia Fortune homicide case in Jackson, Mississippi
A man has been arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, after the state medical examiner ruled the death of Tasia Fortune, found hanging from a tree, a homicide.
Arrest made in Tasia Fortune homicide case, Jackson police say
Jackson, Mississippi police have arrested a man in connection with the death of Tasia Fortune, the 29-year-old Black woman found hanging from a tree outside an abandoned house on 3 August, cnn.com reports. The arrest followed the state medical examiner's official ruling that her death was a homicide.
"Last night, the medical examiner's office officially classified Miss Fortune's death as a homicide. With that determination, our investigators moved quickly," Police Chief RaShall Brackney said at a Friday news conference.
Officers secured two search warrants and an arrest warrant for the suspect. When they were unable to locate him at the search warrant address, officers returning to police headquarters encountered the man walking along a city street and arrested him there, Brackney said. The chief added that more arrest warrants could be served in connection with the case.
"That arrest today is an important development in this investigation but it is not the conclusion," Brackney said.
Brackney described Fortune as having been found in a "hanging position" with "various states of decomposition of her body." Jackson investigators interviewed nearly 15 people, collected forensic evidence and pursued multiple leads in the case.
Fortune's death has shaken her family and the broader community in Mississippi, where two other individuals were found hanging from trees within the past year. According to The Associated Press, those cases involved 21-year-old Trey Reed, a Black student at Delta State University in Cleveland, and Cory Zukatis, an unhoused white man in his 30s found in Vicksburg. Authorities determined both of those deaths to be suicides.
Brackney stressed that the investigation into Fortune's death remains active and ongoing.
"This is not closure. This is just one step as we continue to investigate this case," the chief said.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)