Jackson Police Treat Tasia Fortune’s Death as a Homicide Investigation
Goldlaner.com – Jackson police are investigating the death of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman found hanging from a tree outside an abandoned home last month, as a homicide while authorities await a final medical ruling.
Police Chief RaShall Brackney told the Jackson City Council on Tuesday that investigators have approached the case as a homicide from the beginning. The department had earlier listed the case as a death pending investigation, a designation that reflected the absence of a completed determination from the state medical examiner.
“Jackson Police Department has been investigating this case from day one as a homicide, until we hear otherwise from the medical examiner’s office,” Brackney said.
The pending autopsy findings have intensified calls for information from Fortune’s relatives and elected officials. Her death has drawn particular concern in Mississippi, where the history of racial violence involving hangings remains deeply significant to many residents.
Family Calls for Clearer Answers
Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, wrote to city leaders that the family has struggled to obtain meaningful updates from investigators. Her letter was read aloud during the City Council meeting before Brackney addressed the case publicly.
“I have no more answers from one day of this investigation,” Spivey wrote. “The detectives are like they are on a prerecorded message, just saying the same thing over and over. And now it’s gone to silence.”
Spivey later said she sought help from City Councilman Kenneth Stokes because she felt the Jackson Police Department had not treated the family with adequate responsiveness. In a Thursday post on the family’s GoFundMe page, she said the council discussion brought public attention to the fact that police were handling the death as a homicide investigation.
“Thanks to him putting Tasia’s case on for the council meeting Jackson Police department finally came out and admitted that they were treating this as a homicide which I had already known that but the public didn’t personally know,” Spivey wrote.
Brackney said detectives have remained in regular communication with Spivey and her husband. However, investigators are still waiting for the medical examiner’s office to determine both the cause and manner of Fortune’s death. Those findings can be central to a death investigation because they help authorities distinguish between natural, accidental, suicidal, undetermined, and homicidal deaths.
Autopsy Conducted in August
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office performed Fortune’s autopsy on August 11. As of the council meeting, Jackson police had not received the completed results.
Brackney said she had contacted both the director of the medical examiner’s office and the commissioner responsible for overseeing it, but had not yet received a final ruling. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety, which oversees the state medical examiner’s office, has said an autopsy report is not classified as outstanding or delayed until more than 90 days have passed. The department said its average completion period is shorter than that threshold.
Autopsy reports can require extensive review before they are finalized. Medical examiners may need to consider examinations, laboratory testing, investigative material, and other findings before issuing conclusions. The Department of Public Safety has not disclosed the status or findings of Fortune’s individual report.
No arrests had been made in connection with Fortune’s death as of August. The father of one of Fortune’s children was arrested shortly after her body was discovered on unrelated weapons charges. Jail records show that he remains in custody.
Spivey wrote that Fortune’s children have had their future secured while the family continues seeking justice. The statement reflects the family’s effort to care for the children while the investigation remains unresolved.
Community Concern and Historical Context
Stokes said people in his ward are asking for a clearer account of what happened to Fortune. He urged officials to provide answers, pointing to Mississippi’s violent racial history and to recent hanging deaths elsewhere in the state.
“They’re concerned because they’re saying no answers have been given as to what happened, who did what, or anything else, and everybody wants to know what happened,” Stokes said.
Fortune’s case comes less than a year after the deaths of Trey Reed, a 21-year-old Black student at Delta State University in Cleveland, and Cory Zukatis, an unhoused white man in his 30s, who were found hanging in Vicksburg. Authorities ruled those deaths suicides.
The circumstances surrounding Fortune’s death have made it especially important for officials to communicate carefully and accurately. Brackney cautioned the public against reaching conclusions before the investigation and medical review are complete.
“There is a lot of misinformation out there about this case and other ones,” Brackney said.
For now, the case remains an active homicide investigation, with police awaiting the medical examiner’s final report. That report will not necessarily answer every question on its own, but it is expected to be a major part of determining how Fortune died and what investigative steps should follow.
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