Black woman found hanging in Jackson investigated as possible homicide, family demands answers

The body of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune was discovered hanging from a tree on 3 August in the lot of an abandoned home in Jackson, Mississippi, and police have confirmed they are treating the death as a potential homicide while the medical examiner’s findings remain pending, Fortune’s mother and city officials said.

Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, said she last saw her daughter alive on 26 July in Kentucky during a family reunion and learned of her death weeks later; she has repeatedly sought updates from authorities and criticized the lack of communication.

Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney told the BBC the department has treated the case “from day one as a homicide” in order to preserve evidence pending the medical examiner’s determination of cause and manner of death, but the office declined to comment on the ongoing case.

Local concern has intensified because Mississippi’s history of racial violence and recent similar incidents: two other people in the state were found hanged on the same day in September 2025, both of those deaths having been ruled suicides, and an online petition with more than 50,000 signatures calls for an independent review of the state chief medical examiner, Dr Staci Turner.

Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes and student NAACP chapter president Brandon King have urged more thorough investigation and federal assistance; Stokes said he has contacted federal prosecutors and the FBI but has not received a response, and US Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett has requested Justice Department attention to recent Mississippi deaths.

Liberal News Analysis: What Does This Development Mean?

The investigation into Fortune’s death has prompted heightened local alarm and calls for transparency as officials await autopsy results; petition drives and requests for federal review reflect public mistrust tied to the case’s circumstances and recent, similar discoveries in the state.

Quick Glance: What You Need to Know

• Tasia Fortune, 29, was found hanging from a tree in Jackson on 3 August; police are treating the death as a potential homicide while awaiting the medical examiner’s findings.
• Family members and local leaders have criticized slow or limited communication from authorities and have sought federal assistance and independent review.
• Public concern is intensified by the state’s racial history and two other recent hangings in Mississippi that were ruled suicides; petitions urge further investigation into medical examiner practices.