Mississippi woman's hanging in tree was staged, police confirm — mother demands answers

Tasia Fortune, 29, was found hanged in Jackson, Mississippi, but police say she was already dead before her body was placed there. Three people have been arrested.

Body staged at abandoned home: mother left with more questions than answers

Authorities in Jackson, Mississippi, have determined that a 29-year-old woman found hanging from a tree in August was already dead before her body was placed at the scene, bbc.co.uk reports. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and concluded that "the scene and the hanging were staged", according to the Jackson Police Department.

Tasia Fortune, a mother of four, was discovered at an abandoned property in Jackson. The find had triggered widespread alarm in the majority-black city, given Mississippi's documented history of racial violence and lynchings.

Three people have since been arrested in connection with the case, all of whom are black. Police told a court on Friday that Fortune's death was believed to stem from a drug-related dispute, with a detective suggesting she may have been killed over allegations she had stolen drugs.

Her mother, Christy Spivey, told the BBC she remains far from reassured by the new information. "I have more questions now than what I did before," she said. Spivey added that police had not explained how the three suspects were connected to her daughter, nor why her death had allegedly been staged in this manner.

"Still no cause of death, no date of death — nothing," she said. "What actually killed her?"

Spivey said that when a coroner initially informed her that her daughter had not died by hanging, she felt a measure of relief. "When the police called me, I started crying and thanked them and felt a little more at peace than I had before," she told the BBC. That sense of calm did not last. When further details emerged this week, she said she was "starting to break down".

Spivey rejected the drug-theft allegations outright, though she acknowledged her daughter had struggled with addiction. "Tasia has an addiction — had — an addiction problem. She was trying to get better," she said. "If she still was doing drugs, which I'm sure she probably was, she still didn't deserve to be done like that. Nobody does."

Officials have not disclosed the precise cause of death or confirmed any motive behind the alleged staging of the scene. Fortune was homeless at the time of her death, Spivey said, though she had typically stayed at various people's homes.

Fortune's four sons, ranging in age from one to seven, are now living with a combination of family members and friends. Two of the children are in the process of being adopted.

The case drew attention from local lawmakers, who called for federal investigations in the weeks following the discovery. The latest developments — confirming the scene was staged while leaving key questions unanswered — have deepened rather than resolved that uncertainty.

Spivey said she hoped police had arrested the right individuals. "I just hope they've got the right person/people," she told the BBC.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)