Investigators: Fortune was dead two to three days before her body was found
Eric Clark, 45, surrendered to Jackson authorities on Friday and was charged with murder in the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune, the Jackson Police Department (JPD) announced. Clark was scheduled to make a court appearance on Monday. He is the third person to face a murder charge in the case.
Fortune’s body was discovered on August 3 hanging from a tree behind a vacant home on the 500 block of Road of Remembrance in the western part of Jackson, Mississippi’s capital. She was a mother of four.
Police disclosed on Friday that an autopsy investigation had concluded “the scene and the hanging were staged.” JPD detective Samuel Dukes had previously described Fortune’s hanging in court as “staged,” saying investigators believe she was killed somewhere else before her body was placed in a hanging position in the tree. Dukes added that investigators determined Fortune had been dead for two to three days before her body was discovered.
Authorities have not released additional information about the circumstances surrounding Fortune’s killing or explained why investigators believe the scene was faked.
Clark’s arrest comes after two other men, Earnest Lloyd Jr and Jarques Ratliff, were charged with murder in connection with Fortune’s death. Ratliff and Lloyd have both reportedly pleaded not guilty, and each has been denied bond. Detectives have interviewed as many as 15 people, according to a police news release shared with multiple news outlets.
“The Jackson police department’s robbery-homicide division will continue its investigation until all individuals believed to be involved are held accountable for their actions in connection with Ms Fortune’s death,” the news release states.
Local TV station WLBT reported an alleged physical altercation between Lloyd, 25, and Fortune that occurred shortly before her death. Police accused Lloyd of using a black cable cord to hang Fortune, according to WLBT.
The case has drawn national attention because of the severity of Fortune’s killing and Mississippi’s history of racist violence and lynchings, according to The Guardian. Clark, Lloyd Jr, Ratliff, and Fortune are all Black.
Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, has said she was certain her daughter would not have killed herself. A photograph published September 8 by The Guardian and the Associated Press shows Spivey holding a portrait of Fortune in Marion, Kentucky.