JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A man charged with murder in the hanging of a Black woman in Mississippi pleaded not guilty Monday at his first court appearance.
The body of Tasia Fortune, 29, was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned home in Jackson on August 3.
On Friday, police arrested 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff, who is also Black, on a murder charge after the state medical examiner deemed her death a homicide.
During Monday's brief hearing in Municipal Court, a judge denied bond for Ratliff, who stated in court that he is not guilty. Ratliff's attorney left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.
The case has attracted attention due to the manner of Fortune's death, which has drawn comparisons to historical lynchings in Mississippi, a state with a complex civil rights history marked by racial violence.
Police and prosecutors have not disclosed a suspected motive or indicated whether they believe race played a role in the incident.
Police Chief RaShall Brackney noted that Ratliff had an "association" with Fortune but did not provide further details. She also mentioned that additional arrests are anticipated in the case.
Prosecutors provided few new details during the court proceedings, stating that Fortune had been hanged with a "black cable cord" and that Ratliff attempted to evade officers in a vehicle on the day of his arrest.
Brackney and other police officials present at Ratliff's hearing declined to comment afterward.
Fortune, who identified as Black, had a Black father and a white mother, according to her mother, Christy Spivey. Fortune had been residing in Jackson for approximately ten years and had four children. Spivey mentioned that Fortune had struggled with homelessness in recent years but had recently expressed interest in starting a cleaning business and improving her life.
Two other hanging deaths in Mississippi over the past year — involving a Black student at Delta State University and a homeless white man in Vicksburg — have also received significant attention, with both cases ruled as suicides.