Jackson police are investigating the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune as a homicide after she was found hanging from a tree outside an abandoned house last month, while authorities await the medical examiner’s findings to determine the official cause and manner of death.

Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney told the city council that investigators had treated Fortune’s death as a potential homicide from the beginning.

“Jackson Police Department has been investigating this case from day one as a homicide, until we hear otherwise from the medical examiner’s office,” Brackney said during a recent city council meeting.

The case had previously been publicly categorized as a “death pending investigation.”

Family Demands Answers in Tasia Fortune Case
Fortune’s family has continued to press authorities for answers as the investigation remains unresolved.

Her mother, Christy Spivey, wrote a letter to the Jackson City Council expressing frustration over what she described as a lack of information from investigators.

Spivey said she had repeatedly sought updates but felt that the family was receiving few answers about what happened to her daughter.

The letter was read aloud during the council meeting after Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes raised Fortune’s case with police officials.

Spivey later said that bringing the case before the council prompted police to publicly acknowledge that they were investigating Fortune’s death as a homicide.

Autopsy Results Still Pending
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on Fortune on August 11, but police had not yet received the final results when Brackney addressed the council.

The chief said she had contacted officials with the medical examiner’s office in an effort to obtain an update on the ruling concerning Fortune’s cause and manner of death.

According to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, autopsy reports are not officially considered outstanding or backlogged until they have exceeded 90 days. The department said the average turnaround time is generally shorter than that.

Until the medical examiner issues its findings, authorities have not publicly established exactly how Fortune died or whether another person was responsible.

No Arrest Made in Fortune’s Death
No arrests had been made in connection with Fortune’s death, according to police.

A man who is the father of one of Fortune’s children was arrested shortly after her body was discovered, but authorities said that arrest involved unrelated weapons charges. He remains in custody, according to jail records.

Police have continued communicating with Fortune’s family while the investigation remains active.

Chief Brackney also warned the public against drawing conclusions before investigators receive all available evidence.

“There is a lot of misinformation out there about this case and other ones,” she said.

Case Draws Wider Attention in Mississippi
The investigation has attracted additional attention because of Mississippi’s history of racial violence involving hangings and several recent deaths that initially raised questions.

Jackson Councilman Kenneth Stokes said residents in his ward were concerned about the lack of publicly available answers surrounding Fortune’s death.

Stokes also pointed to the broader historical significance of hanging deaths in Mississippi, saying the circumstances surrounding Fortune’s case deserved a complete investigation.

Authorities have previously ruled other recent hanging deaths in the state as suicides, including the 2025 death of Delta State University student Trey Reed and the death of Cory Zukatis in Vicksburg.

For Fortune’s family, however, the focus remains on determining exactly what happened to the 29-year-old mother.

The investigation remains ongoing, and the medical examiner’s ruling is expected to play a key role in determining the next steps in the case.

Course: NY Post