Authorities in Mississippi have arrested a second man in connection with the death of a Black woman who was found hanging from a tree, while also seeking a third suspect in the case.
Jackson police announced late Tuesday that 25-year-old Earnest Lloyd Jr. had been taken into custody in the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune. Her body was discovered hanging behind an abandoned house in Jackson on Aug. 3.
Lloyd, who is Black, joins 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff as a defendant in the investigation. Fortune was also Black. Lloyd appeared briefly in court in Jackson on Wednesday.
Christy Spivey, Fortune’s mother, attended the hearing and said she was relieved to see arrests in her daughter’s death. Spivey said neither she nor several of Fortune’s friends knew Lloyd, while emphasizing that the allegations remain unproven and that everyone is considered innocent unless convicted.
“My family is not the only family that this is affecting,” Spivey said, acknowledging the pain experienced by the defendants’ relatives. “I feel for them as well. The only difference is that mine can never come back.”
AP Photo/George Walker IV
“I’ll never truly have peace,” she added.
Ratliff was arrested in September and charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail without bond.
Following Ratliff’s arrest, Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney said he had an “association” with Fortune, but she did not provide further details.
In a statement, police said a warrant had been issued for a third suspect but did not identify that person or explain the alleged connection to Fortune’s death. Investigators also expect to seek additional warrants. Brackney previously said detectives had interviewed more than a dozen people and gathered forensic evidence during the investigation.
Police have not disclosed a possible motive or said whether they believe race was a factor. Still, the case has drawn national attention because the circumstances of Fortune’s death evoked the history of lynching in the South. Her death also occurred about a year after 21-year-old Trey Reed, a Black student at Delta State University in Cleveland, and Cory Zukatis, an unhoused White man, were found hanging in separate incidents in Mississippi. Both deaths were ruled suicides, although Reed’s family and attorneys have sought an independent autopsy.
Fortune, a native of Kentucky, was the mother of four children and had lived in Jackson for roughly 10 years, relatives said. Earlier this month, Spivey said Fortune’s family was still searching for answers.
Spivey has said her daughter experienced homelessness in recent years and that she did not know where Fortune had been living when she died. Before her death, Fortune had discussed opening a cleaning business and working to rebuild her life.
