Tasia Fortune: Arrest Made Over Her Death in Mississippi
BBC Homepage
Skip to content
Accessibility Help
Your account
Home
News
Sport
Earth
Reel
Worklife
Travel
Culture
Future
Music
TV
Weather
Sounds
More menu
More menu
Search BBC
Home
Climate
World
UK
Business
Tech
Science
Entertainment & Arts
Health
In Pictures
BBC Verify
Newsbeat
World
Africa
Asia
Australia
Europe
Latin America
Middle East
US & Canada
Arrest made over the death of black woman found hanged from tree in Mississippi
Image source: Christy Spivey
By Brandon Drenon
Published 11 September 2026 Updated 52 minutes ago
Warning: This story contains distressing details
Police in the US state of Mississippi have arrested a man in connection with the death of Tasia Fortune, a black woman found hanged from a tree in August. They say they may make more arrests soon.
Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney confirmed on Friday that the medical examiner had determined Fortune's cause of death as homicide.
The suspect is identified as Jarques Ratliff, 51, who will be charged with murder. There is an "association" between Ratliff and Fortune, although Brackney did not elaborate further.
"Additional arrests will be pending as our investigators continue to follow the evidence," said Brackney, adding that they had interviewed 15 people in the case.
Fortune's mother, Christy Spivey, told the BBC she felt a "sigh of relief...like a little bit of peace" upon hearing the news of the arrest.
The arrest comes weeks after Fortune's body was discovered and local officials faced criticism for their slow response and limited communication with her family.
Spivey expressed frustration over the lack of information from police, stating: "I guess I do feel like a little sigh of relief...like a little bit of peace just come over me."
This incident has been described as part of a disturbing pattern of possible modern-day lynchings, with over 10 reported hangings of black individuals in the US this year.