Updated

Updated · The Guardian · Sep 26

Eric Clark Surrenders on Murder Charge in Tasia Fortune Death as Autopsy Finds Hanging Was Staged

Updated

Updated · The Guardian · Sep 26

Eric Clark Surrenders on Murder Charge in Tasia Fortune Death as Autopsy Finds Hanging Was Staged

Q: If Tasia Fortune was killed in a drug dispute days earlier, who else are police hunting in this brutal cover-up?

Police are already pursuing others beyond the three men charged, but they have not publicly identified them. So far, Jackson police have charged Jarques Ratliff, 51, Earnest Lloyd Jr., 25, and Eric Clark, 45, with murder in Tasia Fortune’s death. Court testimony and police statements indicate investigators believe Fortune was killed in a drug dispute, fought with her attackers, and was dead before her body was hung from a tree in what authorities call a staged scene. As for who else police are hunting, investigators have said only that additional people are believed to have been involved. WLBT reported police viewed Lloyd, Ratliff and “two other co-defendants” as connected to the killing, and Jackson police have repeatedly said more warrants are expected. Detectives have interviewed multiple witnesses and collected forensic evidence, but they have not released the names or precise roles of any additional suspects. The clearest public allegation so far is that Lloyd may have physically fought with Fortune shortly before her death and that a black cable cord was used to hang her body afterward. Police have also said Fortune was not killed at the site where her body was found. In short, authorities appear to be looking for at least one or more additional accomplices in the killing and staging of the scene, but their identities remain undisclosed while the homicide investigation continues.

Q: With the hanging confirmed as a staged cover-up, what exact cause of death are investigators still hiding from the public?

Investigators have not publicly disclosed Tasia Fortune’s exact medical cause of death. Based on the reporting available, police and the medical examiner have said only that her death was a homicide and that the hanging scene was staged after she was already dead. What is known is limited but important: detectives testified that Fortune likely died in a drug-related dispute, that witness interviews suggested she “fought hard” before she was killed, and that police believe a black cable cord was used to hang her body afterward. Authorities also said she was not killed where her body was found and may have been dead for two to three days before discovery. So the public record does not identify whether she died from strangulation, blunt-force trauma, stabbing, overdose, or some other mechanism. There is no verified indication in the cited reports that investigators are “hiding” a confirmed cause; rather, they appear to be withholding it during an active homicide case, with evidence still being presented and the grand jury process ongoing. In short, the exact cause of death remains undisclosed. The only confirmed facts are that it was ruled a homicide, the hanging was not the actual cause, and investigators believe the body was posed afterward as part of a cover-up.

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 26

Eric Clark, 45, surrendered Friday and became the third person charged with murder in the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune in Jackson, Mississippi; he is due in court Monday.
Jackson police said Friday an autopsy concluded Fortune’s hanging was staged, reinforcing investigators’ view that she was killed elsewhere before her body was placed in a tree.
Fortune was found on Aug. 3 behind a vacant home on Road of Remembrance, and detectives believe she had been dead for two to three days before her body was discovered.
Earnest Lloyd Jr. and Jarques Ratliff were already charged with murder, have pleaded not guilty and were denied bond as police said they have interviewed about 15 people.
The case drew national attention because of the brutality of Fortune’s death and Mississippi’s history of racist lynchings, though police have released few details about the killing itself.