Mississippi Man Pleads Not Guilty in Hanging Death of Jackson Woman
Jarques Ratliff pleaded not guilty and was denied bond in the hanging death of Tasia Fortune, 29, whose body was found in Jackson, Mississippi, on Aug. 3.
A Mississippi man charged with murder in the hanging death of a Black woman in Jackson entered a not guilty plea on Monday during his first court appearance.
Jarques Ratliff, 51, appeared briefly in Municipal Court, where the judge denied him bond. His attorney left the courthouse without speaking to reporters after the hearing.
Police arrested Ratliff on Friday, also charging him with murder, after the state medical examiner ruled the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune a homicide. Ratliff is also Black.
Fortune's body was discovered hanging from a tree behind an abandoned home in the state capital on Aug. 3.
The case has drawn widespread attention because the circumstances of her death recalled lynchings in Mississippi, a state with a civil rights history marked by episodes of racial violence. Authorities have not disclosed a suspected motive or said whether they believe race played a role.
Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney said Friday that Ratliff had an "association" with Fortune but did not elaborate. She also said more arrests are expected.
Fortune, a Kentucky native, had lived in Jackson for roughly a decade, according to relatives. Her mother, Christy Spivey, said Fortune had four children but rarely saw two of them. Spivey was unsure where her daughter was living at the time of her death but said Fortune had struggled with homelessness in recent years. She said Fortune had recently talked about starting a cleaning business and was trying to get her life in order.
Two other hanging deaths in Mississippi over the past year — a Black student at Delta State University and a homeless white man in Vicksburg — also attracted broad attention, though both were determined to be suicides.