Updated

Updated · PBS NewsHour · Aug 10

Jackson Investigates 29-Year-Old Tasia Fortune's Hanging Death as 2 Similar Mississippi Cases Loom

Updated

Updated · PBS NewsHour · Aug 10

Jackson Investigates 29-Year-Old Tasia Fortune's Hanging Death as 2 Similar Mississippi Cases Loom

Q: Why did a local official urgently request federal help for a young mother found hanging in a vacant Mississippi backyard?

Jackson City Council member Kenneth Stokes urgently sought help from the U.S. attorney’s office because the circumstances of Tasia Fortune’s death were highly disturbing and unresolved: a 29-year-old mother of four was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned house in Jackson, and local authorities had not yet determined the cause or manner of death. Stokes said the city was in “dire need” of federal assistance to help investigate how Fortune ended up there and, if a crime occurred, to “catch and convict the person or persons involved.” His request reflected concern that the case could require added investigative resources and public confidence beyond the local response. The location and manner of the death also carried wider alarm in Mississippi, where deaths involving people found hanging from trees have drawn intense scrutiny because of the state’s long history of racial terror and lynchings. Even though authorities had not publicly said whether foul play or a racial motive was suspected, the symbolism and seriousness of the scene heightened calls for outside involvement. At the same time, Fortune’s family has strongly rejected the idea that she died by suicide. Her mother told ABC News that Fortune had seemed peaceful and in good spirits days earlier and said, “She did not do this to herself.” With the case still an active death investigation and the autopsy pending, Stokes pressed for federal help to ensure a thorough, credible investigation.

3 articles · Updated · PBS NewsHour · Aug 10

Aug. 3 police found 29-year-old Tasia Fortune hanging in the backyard of an abandoned Jackson house, and authorities still have not said whether they consider her death suspicious.
A state autopsy is pending to determine the cause and manner of death, while Jackson police have identified no suspects or persons of interest and disclosed few details.
Fortune's mother, who last saw her on July 26 after a Kentucky family reunion, told ABC News her daughter "did not do this to herself," and a city councilman asked the U.S. attorney for help.
Two other hangings in Mississippi in the past year — Trey Reed in Cleveland and Cory Zukatis in Vicksburg — were ruled suicides, but Fortune's case is drawing wider scrutiny over transparency in death investigations involving Black residents.