What we know as a man charged in Tasia Fortune’s death heads to court

From Etta Avolio/GoFundMe

More than a month after Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman, was found hanging from a tree outside an abandoned house in Jackson, Mississippi, a suspect charged with murder in connection with her death is expected in court Monday.

Jackson police announced the murder charge against 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff on Friday, after the medical examiner ruled Fortune’s death a homicide.

CNN is working to determine whether Ratliff has legal representation.

Ratliff’s expected hearing in Jackson Municipal Court follows a growing demand for answers from the young mother’s family and community leaders in Mississippi, where two other people have been found hanging from trees in less than a year.

Here’s what we know:

Authorities responded to the abandoned home on August 3 and found Fortune in a “hanging position,” according to Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney.

Christy Spivey, Fortune’s mother, told ABC News she had last seen Fortune on July 26 in Kentucky for a family reunion. When asked how long it took for police to discover Fortune, Brackney did not offer a time frame, but noted her body was found in “various states of decomposition.”

Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger/USA Today Network/Imagn Images

Brackney told CNN she has been intentional about the language used to describe the state in which Fortune was found.

“We don’t want to speculate, and we don’t want to add fuel to the fire of these incidents in which other people have said that she was found hung,” Brackney said Saturday.

Investigators must examine a number of factors and evidence, including fiber collection and the position of tree limbs, to determine exactly how Fortune was killed, Brackney said.

While authorities have not yet disclosed how Fortune was killed, the office ruled her death a homicide Thursday, after which the Jackson Police Department charged Ratliff with murder.

Brackney told CNN on Saturday more arrests are expected. CNN has reached out to the Jackson Police Department for updates on additional arrests.

Mississippi police make arrest in Tasia Fortune case after medical examiner rules death a homicide

While police have said they are being careful not to disclose information that could compromise the investigation, the public has grown increasingly eager for answers, especially in light of two other recent hangings in Mississippi that were ultimately ruled as suicides.

“She did not do this to herself,” Spivey said. “I know my daughter, and she did not do this to herself.”

As calls for answers grew, Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes wrote a letter in August to Mississippi US Attorney Baxter Kruger asking for assistance in the case.

“People are upset about it. Quite naturally, they should be. This is something that’s a very disturbing situation and case in our city, in our state,” Mayor John Horhn previously told CNN affiliate WAPT . “But we’re not going to jump to conclusions.”

While the details of Fortune’s death have captured the nation, her family and community have made an effort to honor her life.

A pink and white memorial was erected in the backyard of the abandoned house where she was found, with rainbow pinwheels, white flowers and teddy bears surrounding her photograph.

Fortune is survived by four young children — 7-year-old Davion, 5-year-old Terence Jr., 4-year-old Tristian and 1-year-old Donte’ — as well as her parents and an extended family who loved her deeply, according to her obituary .

Fortune had lived in Jackson for the past 10 years, but was laid to rest in Kentucky, where she was born.

She was an intelligent young woman who skipped her junior year of high school and was a star cross-country athlete. Though her life wasn’t always easy — her mother told The Associated Press that she struggled with homelessness in recent years — she lived with a resilient spirit and dedicated faith, her obituary notes.

As Fortune’s story continues to make headlines around the nation, strangers in Mississippi and beyond have joined in remembering the life of the young mother and demanding justice for her family.

Ratliff knew Fortune, according to police, but it’s not clear how.

Brackney described it as an association, adding “the manner and the nature of that association” will be revealed as Ratliff appears in court Monday and the investigation continues.

Hinds County Mississippi

In their investigation, police interviewed nearly 15 people related to the case, and it “became more and more apparent” Ratliff, who was known to the Jackson Police Department, had a connection to Fortune, Brackney said.

As demands for answers grew in the days before Ratliff was charged, Brackney said police had to wait for the medical examiner to make its ruling.

“One of the delays is you cannot get a warrant for homicide until the medical examiner gives us an exact cause of death,” Brackney said.

After obtaining a warrant for Ratliff’s arrest, police executed search warrants for two separate locations to gather evidence in the case Friday. Officers happened to see Ratliff exiting a convenience store and arrested him as he was walking down the street, Brackney said.

“It was completely happenstance,” Brackney said.

Investigators and SWAT team members who were helping execute the search warrants supported the arrest, and Ratliff did not resist, Brackney said, adding, “We had quite a show of officers.”

Fortune’s mother was immediately notified of the arrest, Brackney said Friday.

When asked whether Ratliff is cooperating with the investigation, Brackney said only police requested an interview with him after taking him into custody.

When asked about any connection between Fortune’s death and the other hanging deaths in Mississippi, Brackney said, “I would not make that determination. That would be a determination that the FBI would make.”

CNN’s Dalia Faheid, Elise Hammond and Chris Boyette contributed to this report.

来自 Etta Avolio/GoFundMe

29 岁的黑人女子塔西亚·福琼被发现吊死在密西西比州杰克逊市一栋废弃房屋外的树上一个多月后，一名被控与她死亡有关的谋杀嫌疑人预计将于周一出庭受审。

杰克逊警方于周五宣布对 51 岁的贾克斯·拉特利夫提出谋杀指控，此前法医裁定福琼的死因是谋杀。

CNN正在努力查明拉特利夫是否聘请了律师。

拉特利夫预计将在杰克逊市法院接受听证。此前，这位年轻母亲的家人和密西西比州的社区领袖越来越要求得到答案，因为在不到一年的时间里，密西西比州又有两人被发现吊死在树上。

我们目前掌握的情况如下：

据杰克逊警察局长拉沙尔·布拉克尼称，当局于 8 月 3 日对这所废弃的房屋做出响应，发现福琼处于“上吊姿势”。

福琼的母亲克里斯蒂·斯派维告诉美国广播公司新闻网，她最后一次见到福琼是在7月26日，当时福琼在肯塔基州参加家庭聚会。当被问及警方花了多长时间才发现福琼的遗体时，布拉克尼没有给出具体时间，但指出她的遗体被发现时“已处于不同程度的腐烂状态”。

Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger/USA Today Network/Imagn Images

布拉克尼告诉 CNN，她对用来描述发现福琼时所在州的措辞非常谨慎。

“我们不想妄加猜测，也不想火上浇油，因为其他人都说她是被吊死的，”布拉克尼周六表示。

布拉克尼说，调查人员必须检查许多因素和证据，包括纤维收集和树枝的位置，以确定福琼究竟是如何被杀害的。

虽然当局尚未透露福琼的死因，但周四，该办公室裁定她的死是谋杀，之后杰克逊警察局以谋杀罪起诉了拉特利夫。

布拉克尼周六告诉CNN，预计会有更多人被捕。CNN已联系杰克逊警察局，询问有关更多逮捕行动的最新情况。

密西西比州警方在塔西亚·福琼案中逮捕嫌疑人，此前法医裁定其死亡为他杀。

虽然警方表示他们会谨慎行事，避免泄露可能影响调查的信息，但公众越来越渴望得到答案，尤其是在密西西比州最近发生的另外两起上吊事件最终被判定为自杀之后。

“她不是自作自受，”斯派维说。“我了解我的女儿，她绝不会自作自受。”

随着要求给出答案的呼声越来越高，杰克逊市议员肯尼斯·斯托克斯在 8 月份写信给密西西比州联邦检察官巴克斯特·克鲁格，请求他协助调查此案。

“人们对此感到愤怒。这很正常，他们理应如此。这在我们城市、我们州都是一起非常令人不安的事件，”市长约翰·霍恩此前告诉CNN附属电视台WAPT。“但我们不会妄下结论。”

虽然福琼的死讯牵动着全国人民的心，但她的家人和社区也努力缅怀她的一生。

在她被发现的那栋废弃房屋的后院里，竖起了一座粉色和白色的纪念碑，她的照片周围摆放着彩虹风车、白色鲜花和泰迪熊。

据讣告称，福琼身后留下了四个年幼的孩子——7岁的戴维恩、5岁的特伦斯二世、4岁的特里斯坦和1岁的唐特——以及她的父母和深爱她的大家庭。

福琼在杰克逊生活了 10 年，但最终安葬在了她的出生地肯塔基州。

她是一位聪颖的年轻女性，高中三年级时跳过了那一年，并且是越野赛跑的明星运动员。尽管她的人生并非一帆风顺——她的母亲告诉美联社，她近年来曾一度无家可归——但她始终保持着坚韧不拔的精神和虔诚的信仰，她的讣告中写道。

随着福琼的故事持续在全国范围内引起关注，密西西比州及其他地区的素不相识的人们也纷纷加入到缅怀这位年轻母亲的行列，并要求为她的家人伸张正义。

据警方称，拉特利夫认识福琼，但还不清楚他们是如何认识的。

布拉克尼将其描述为一种关联，并补充说，随着拉特利夫周一出庭以及调查的继续，“这种关联的方式和性质”将会揭晓。

密西西比州海因兹县

布拉克尼说，在调查过程中，警方询问了与此案有关的近 15 人，而且“越来越明显地”发现，杰克逊警察局认识的拉特利夫与福琼有联系。

在拉特利夫被起诉前的几天里，人们对答案的呼声越来越高，布拉克尼表示，警方不得不等待法医做出裁决。

布拉克尼说：“其中一个延误原因是，在法医给出确切的死因之前，你无法获得谋杀罪的逮捕令。”

警方在获得对拉特利夫的逮捕令后，于周五对两处不同的地点执行了搜查令，以收集案件证据。布拉克尼表示，警员们碰巧看到拉特利夫从一家便利店出来，并在他沿街行走时将其逮捕。

“这完全是偶然，”布拉克尼说。

布拉克尼说，协助执行搜查令的调查人员和特警队员支持逮捕行动，拉特利夫没有反抗，他还补充说：“我们出动了相当多的警力。”

布拉克尼周五表示，福琼的母亲已立即得知逮捕消息。

当被问及拉特利夫是否配合调查时，布拉克尼表示，只有警方在将其拘留后才要求对他进行讯问。

当被问及福琼的死与密西西比州其他上吊死亡事件之间是否存在任何联系时，布拉克尼说：“我不会做出这样的判断。这应该是联邦调查局做出的判断。”

CNN的Dalia Faheid、Elise Hammond和Chris Boyette对本报道亦有贡献。