Pending Autopsy Results, Police Chief Says
Tasia Fortune, 29, was discovered behind a vacant home in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 3, and her death has since sparked growing calls for answers in the local community
The death of a Black woman who was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi is being investigated as a homicide pending autopsy results, the local police chief recently announced.
Tasia Fortune, 29, was discovered behind a vacant home in Jackson on Aug. 3, and her death has since sparked growing calls for answers in the local community, with some pointing to the state’s history of racial violence, PEOPLE previously reported, citing police and local news outlets.
The Jackson Police Department said in a statement at the time that it had launched a death investigation, and Fortune’s body was later transferred to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy to determine her cause and manner of death, the Mississippi Free Press and The Clarion Ledger reported.
In an update on Tuesday, Sept. 8, Police Chief RaShall Brackney said at a city council meeting that investigators are still waiting on the results of the autopsy but clarified the department “has been investigating this case from day one as a homicide until we hear otherwise from the medical examiner’s office,” Mississippi Today and WAPT.
Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, questioned her daughter’s death in an interview with ABC News, saying Fortune, a mother of four, was not suicidal. “She was better than I had seen her in a long time. She was at peace,” Spivey said. “I know my daughter and she did not do this to herself.”
In an interview with BBC, Spivey also expressed concern with the status of the investigation: “It’s making me angry. What is the hold up?”
Councilman Kenneth Stokes has since a letter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to ask for help in the investigation of Fortune’s death, according to WAPT.
“Surely, somebody should say something,” Stokes said.
Amid the investigation, police arrested Terence Anderson, 65, on suspicion of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon after being interviewed in connection with Stokes’ death, according to WLBT and records reviewed by PEOPLE.
Anderson allegedly said he had no involvement but he told police that he had argued with Fortune, per the reports. It’s unclear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
According to her obituary, Fortune was remembered as a star cross country athlete who “never lost her faith in God.” She is survived by her parents and four children, Davion 7, Terence Jr. 5, Tristian 4 and Donte’, 1.
A GoFundMe created to help Fortune’s family cover funeral expenses has raised upward of $175,000 as of Thursday, Sept. 10.
