Police in Jackson, Mississippi, arrested a man in the case of Tasia Fortune, the 29-year-old Black woman found hanging from a tree outside an abandoned home last month, after the state medical examiner ruled her death a homicide. “Last night, the medical examiner’s office officially classified Miss Fortune’s death as a homicide. With that determination, our investigators acted quickly,” Chief RaShall Brackney said at a news conference Friday. Police obtained two search warrants and an arrest warrant for the man, according to Brackney. After failing to locate the man at the location of the search warrant, officers who returned to police headquarters arrested the suspect as he walked down a city street, he said. More warrants could be served in connection with the case, the chief said. “That arrest today is an important development in this investigation, but it is not the conclusion,” Brackney said. The chief said Fortune was found in a “hanging position” with “various stages of decomposition of her body” on August 3. Fortune’s death shook her family and her community in Mississippi, where two other people were found hanging from trees in less than a year. The investigation into Fortune’s death comes less than a year after the hanging deaths of Trey Reed, 21, a black student at Delta State University in Cleveland, and Cory Zukatis, a homeless white man in his 30s, in Vicksburg, according to The Associated Press. Authorities determined both deaths were suicides. Jackson police interviewed nearly 15 people, collected forensic evidence and followed leads in the case. Brackney said the investigation into Fortune’s death remains active. “This is not closure. It is just a step as we continue to investigate this case,” Brackney said. This story has been updated with additional information.
