Police chief says case ‘remains active,’ more arrests pending
Jackson police on Friday arrested Jacques Ratliff, 51, on homicide charges in the death of Tasia Fortune, 29, whose body was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned building in the city on Aug. 3, Police Chief RaShall Brackney said at a news conference.
Fortune’s death, classified as a homicide by the medical examiner on Thursday evening, had stoked fears among local residents because of Mississippi’s documented history of racial violence and lynchings. Both Ratliff and Fortune are Black, according to police.
Brackney said the suspect had “an association” with the victim but declined to provide further details, CNN reported. Asked about the manner of Fortune’s death, the chief drew a line at the medical examiner’s findings.
“We cannot speculate about the nature or the manner in which Miss Fortune was killed beyond what has been officially determined by the medical examiner,” Brackney told reporters. “We owe it to Miss Fortune, to her family and the integrity of this investigation to let the evidence guide us.”
The chief framed the arrest as a step in a continuing investigation rather than its resolution. “The arrest today is an important development in this investigation, but it is not the conclusion,” she said. “This case remains active, and additional arrests will be pending as our investigators continue to follow the evidence wherever it leads, because Tasia and her children deserve nothing less.”
Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, told the BBC she cried when police notified her of the arrest. “I guess I do feel like a little sigh of relief … like a little bit of peace just come over me,” Spivey said. “I just hope that they’ve got the right person.”
The chief’s announcement came more than five weeks after Fortune’s body was discovered on Aug. 3 behind an abandoned building in Jackson. The arrest followed a multiweek investigation that included the medical examiner’s review of the cause and manner of her death, according to police.