Autopsy Delay Deepens Mystery Surrounding Tasia Fortune’s Death in Mississippi
More than a month after Tasia Fortune was found hanging from a tree behind a vacant Jackson home, police say they are treating her death as a homicide while awaiting a final ruling from the state medical examiner.
JACKSON, Miss. — More than a month after 29-year-old Tasia Fortune was found hanging from a tree behind a vacant home, her family and community remain caught between grief and unanswered questions as investigators await autopsy findings that could determine the direction of the case.
Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney told the City Council on Tuesday that detectives have approached Fortune’s death as a homicide from the beginning and will continue doing so unless evidence from the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office indicates otherwise.
The statement represents the clearest description yet of how police are handling the investigation. Authorities previously referred to it only as an active death investigation and had not publicly classified the manner of death.
Fortune’s body was discovered Aug. 3 in an overgrown area behind a vacant residence on Road of Remembrance in Jackson. Officials said the body may have been there for three or four days before it was found. Hinds County medical examiner investigator Jeremiah Howard confirmed Fortune’s identity before her body was transferred to the state medical examiner for examination.
The official cause and manner of death remain undetermined.
Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, said she last saw her daughter July 26, when Fortune returned to Kentucky for a family reunion. She described Fortune as calm and in a better emotional place than she had been previously.
Spivey has repeatedly said she does not believe her daughter died by suicide and has publicly questioned why the autopsy process has taken so long.
Fortune had lived in Mississippi for more than a decade and was the mother of four young children. Her obituary remembered her as a former cross-country standout whose faith remained important throughout her life.
Investigators interviewed 65-year-old Terence Anderson, who reportedly lived along the road where Fortune was found. Anderson acknowledged that he and Fortune had argued but denied involvement in her death. He also disputed claims that they had been romantically involved.
Police later arrested Anderson on an unrelated charge of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. Authorities have not identified him as a suspect in Fortune’s death, and no one has been charged in connection with the case.
Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes has asked U.S. Attorney Baxter Kruger’s office to assist with the investigation. Stokes referred to Fortune as a murder victim in his request, although the medical examiner has not officially ruled her death a homicide.
The circumstances have generated national attention partly because of Mississippi’s history of racial violence and two other hanging deaths reported in the state during the previous year.
Trey Reed, a 21-year-old Black student, was found hanging from a tree at Delta State University in Cleveland, while Cory Zukatis, an unhoused white man in his 30s, was found hanging in Vicksburg. Authorities ruled both deaths suicides and reported finding no evidence of foul play. No official connection has been established between those cases and Fortune’s death.
Civil rights advocate Bernice King has urged the public not to reach premature conclusions while emphasizing the need for a complete and transparent investigation.
A memorial of flowers, photographs, stuffed animals and pinwheels was established near the place where Fortune was found. An online fundraiser created to assist with funeral expenses and support her children had collected more than $175,000 by Sept. 10.
For Fortune’s family, however, financial support and public attention have not answered the case’s central questions: how she died, how she reached the isolated property, and whether another person was involved.
Until the medical examiner releases a determination, police say the case will continue to be investigated as a potential homicide. Anyone experiencing a mental-health crisis or suicidal thoughts can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for confidential assistance.
