Detective attributes Fortune killing to narcotics rather than racial motive
An attorney for Jarques Ratliff on Friday disputed Jackson Police Detective Samuel Dukes’ staging theory in the death of Tasia Fortune, telling a municipal hearing that authorities had no surveillance video of the vacant lot where her body was found and no evidence showing she was killed elsewhere.
Dukes testified before municipal Judge Lilli Evans Bass that an initial investigation determined Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman, was slain elsewhere and her body was then hung from a tree at the scene, according to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger and WJTV-TV. The detective implicated Ratliff, a 51-year-old Black man, as one of at least three men now under arrest by authorities in connection with Fortune’s death.
In his testimony, Dukes said illegal narcotics, rather than a racial motivation, are thought to be at the root of the crime.
The Aug. 3 discovery of Fortune’s body hanging from a tree in the vacant lot sparked fears among local residents due to Mississippi’s history of racial violence and lynchings.
In a separate statement to media outlets, Jackson police said Eric Clark, 45, has surrendered and is charged with murder in connection with Fortune’s death. A third man, Earnest Lloyd Jr., 25, has also been arrested on murder charges.