Mother speaks out after daughter's staged hanging ruled homicide in Mississippi

Tasia Fortune, 29, was found hanging from a tree in Jackson, MS, but police say she was already dead when her body was placed there. Three people have been arrested.

Jackson homicide: mother demands answers after daughter's body found staged in tree

The mother of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old woman found hanging from a tree at an abandoned property in Jackson, Mississippi, says she has "more questions now than before" after police announced that her daughter had already been dead when her body was placed at the scene. bbc.com reported the development on Friday, following a formal statement by the Jackson Police Department.

Fortune was discovered in August at the site in the majority-Black city. The circumstances of her death had immediately unsettled the local community, given Mississippi's documented history of racial violence and lynchings. On Friday, however, authorities said the medical examiner had classified her death as a homicide and concluded that "the scene and the hanging were staged."

"When the police called me, I started crying and thanked them and felt a little more at peace than I had before," her mother, Christy Spivey, told the BBC. That sense of relief did not last long.

Police have not disclosed the precise cause of death, the date of death, or any confirmed motive. Three people have been arrested in connection with the case; all three are Black.

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

At a court hearing on Friday, a detective stated that Fortune's death was believed to be linked to a drug-related dispute, and that she may have been killed over allegations she had stolen drugs. Spivey rejected that characterisation, though she acknowledged her daughter had struggled with addiction.

"Tasia has an addiction — had — an addiction problem. She was trying to get better," Spivey 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."

Spivey said she had not been told how the three suspects were connected to her daughter, nor why the body was allegedly displayed in that manner. When further details emerged this week, she said she was "starting to break down."

Fortune had been homeless at the time of her death, though she moved between the homes of friends and family. She leaves behind four sons, aged between one and seven, who are now living with a mix of relatives and family friends. Two of the children are in the process of being adopted.

The case had previously prompted local lawmakers to call for a federal investigation. The new findings — that the hanging was deliberate staging rather than the cause of death — have added further complexity to those demands, and have deepened uncertainty within the Jackson community rather than resolving it.

Officials have offered no timeline for further disclosures about the cause or circumstances of Fortune's death.

Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)