Mississippi woman’s hanging death raises questions after similar cases
A car parked outside the Mississippi State Capitol building. (Photo by Rory Doyle / AFP via Getty Images)
JACKSON, Miss. - The hanging death of Tasia Fortune, whose body was discovered outside an abandoned house, has shaken her family and the Mississippi community, where two other people have been found hanging from trees in less than a year.
Police have not indicated whether they consider the 29-year-old Black woman’s death suspicious, saying only that they are actively working "to determine the circumstances surrounding the death."
The backstory:
Jackson police officers responded to the home on Aug. 3 and discovered a body hanging in the backyard. Hinds County chief medical examiner investigator Jeremiah Howard later confirmed the identity as Fortune.
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Her body is now in the custody of the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office, where an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause and manner of death.
What we know:
Christy Spivey, Fortune's mother, told ABC News on Sunday that she last saw her daughter on July 26. Fortune, a mother of four who had lived in Mississippi for more than 10 years, had traveled to Kentucky for a family reunion.
She described her daughter as a loving mother who was not behaving out of the ordinary.
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What we don't know:
Jackson police have commented very little on Fortune's death. They have not identified any suspects or person of interest.
Local media report that a man interviewed by investigators said he had argued with Fortune but had no involvement in her death. Police have not disclosed how the man, who was arrested last week on an unrelated charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, is acquainted with Fortune.
Big picture view:
Fortune's death comes less than a year after the hanging deaths of 21-year-old Trey Reed, a Black student at Delta State University in Cleveland, and Cory Zukatis, an unhoused white man in his 30s, in Vicksburg.
Police in Cleveland concluded Reed's death was a suicide. Autopsy results were consistent with a preliminary examination of the body by the Bolivar County coroner, which found no evidence of foul play.
Reed's family and their attorneys called for an independent autopsy and for authorities to share security camera recordings.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner determined Zukatis died by suicide.
The Source: The Associated Press contributed to this report. Information in this story comes from statements by the Jackson Police Department and Hinds County chief medical examiner investigator Jeremiah Howard, as well as comments from Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, to ABC News. This story was reported from Los Angeles.