JACKSON, Miss. — Midway through a Friday court hearing, defendant Jarques Ratliff interrupted the proceedings with a claim of his own: he and Tasia Fortune had been friends.
The outburst came while the court was absorbing testimony from Jackson police Detective Samuel Dukes, who described a far darker final chapter for Fortune.
Dukes told the court that a disagreement over drugs led to her death, and that she fought hard against her attackers before she died.
Dukes then addressed what happened to her body afterward. Relying on the medical examiner’s opinion, he testified that the hanging was “staged.”
Fortune’s body turned up Aug. 3, hanging from a tree behind an abandoned home in the Mississippi capital. The discovery came this summer and sent a jolt through the city.
Fortune was Black, and the scene drew attention well beyond Jackson because it resembled the lynchings that have marked Mississippi’s past. The state carries a deep record of racial violence.
Authorities have not released the precise cause of Fortune’s death. They also have not explained why they believe someone hanged her after she died. Investigators have classified the death as a homicide.
Police have charged two men with murder. Both men are Black.
Officers arrested Ratliff, 51, in mid-September. He has pleaded not guilty, and he remains in jail without bond.
Police took a second suspect, 25-year-old Earnest Lloyd Jr., into custody earlier this week.
Friday’s hearing served a specific purpose. The court was weighing whether the evidence against Ratliff justifies sending his case to a grand jury, which could decide whether to indict him. The hearing resumes Sept. 30.
Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, sat through the proceedings. Afterward, she reacted to Ratliff’s declaration. “It sounded sincere. Tasia had a lot of friends,” Spivey said later.
She went on to speak about the man charged in her daughter’s death. “I hope if he is innocent that he can prove he’s innocent. We don’t want any innocent people going to jail.”
Outside the courthouse, Spivey spoke with reporters. She said she already knew her daughter had died before anyone hung the body. That act, she said, “brought all the attention to it.”
The detective’s account of a struggle stayed with her. “What bothered me was they said Tasia fought for her life. I know she did. I know my daughter,” Spivey said.
Ratliff did not sit alone in the courtroom. His stepdaughter, Lashuna Jones, joined other supporters who came to watch. “He didn’t do it, and I’m behind him,” she said.
Spivey also shared details about her daughter’s recent years. Fortune had four children and had struggled with homelessness. Spivey said she did not know where Fortune was living when she died.
According to Spivey, Fortune had been talking about launching a cleaning business. Her mother said she was working to get her life in order.
Prosecutors and the defense return to court Sept. 30 to continue the hearing for Ratliff. Lloyd also faces a murder charge in the case.
