Police arrest suspect after black woman found hanged from tree in Mississippi

Warning: This story contains distressing details

Police in the US state of Mississippi have arrested a man in connection with the death of a black woman found hanging from a tree in Jackson. Authorities say they may soon take more people into custody as the investigation continues.

Tasia Fortune’s body was discovered in the lot of an abandoned home in Jackson in August, but police only treated her death as a possible homicide earlier this week. Jackson Police Chief Rashall Brackney said the arrest was “an important development in this investigation, but it is not the conclusion.” The case remains active.

Fortune’s death has worried locals in Jackson, a majority-black city in a state with a history of racial violence and lynching. During a Friday news conference, Brackney said the medical examiner had confirmed Fortune’s cause of death was homicide and that there would be a murder charge.

The suspect was identified as Jarques Ratliff, 51. Brackney said there was an “association” between Ratliff, who is also black, and Fortune, but did not elaborate further.

Other arrests will follow as investigators continue to follow the evidence; the department has interviewed 15 people in the case.

Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, told the BBC she cried when police called to update her about the arrest, saying: “I guess I do feel like a little sigh of relief… like a little bit of peace just come over me.” She added she hopes the right person has been identified.

The arrest comes after weeks of what Spivey and residents described as silence and inaction from local officials. Combined with the grim nature of the death and Mississippi’s history of lynchings, the lack of information left the community in shock and fear.

Spivey had attempted to contact Jackson police multiple times over the past two weeks but had not received a response. Brackney addressed the frustration on Friday, saying, “We have been in constant contact with the mother and the stepfather, as well as the biological father, throughout this case.”

A letter Spivey wrote to officials about the limited communication was read during a public city meeting on Tuesday—just moments before the police announced a possible homicide.

The incident has been highlighted by members of Congress as part of a pattern of “possible modern-day lynchings.” Over 50 members of Congress sent a letter to the FBI and Justice Department, saying they were “extremely alarmed by reports of black people found hanging from trees in numerous states” and called for an independent investigation.

The series of deaths raises significant suspicion of foul play given the role of lynching in America’s history. So far this year there have been at least 10 reported hangings of black people in the US, and more than 70 lynchings documented between 2000 and 2025.