Detective says Fortune was killed before hanging

A Jackson police detective testified that investigators believe Tasia Fortune was killed before her body was hanged from a tree behind an abandoned home, and that the apparent motive may have involved a drug dispute. The medical examiner’s opinion, as described in court by Detective Samuel Dukes, was that Fortune was already dead when she was hanged. Authorities have not disclosed her exact cause of death. Fortune’s body was found on August 3 behind an abandoned home in Jackson. Authorities ruled her death a homicide. Dukes testified during a preliminary hearing for Jarques Ratliff, who is charged with murder in the case. He said investigators believe Fortune’s hanging was staged, but officials have not explained why they believe her body was left that way. Dukes told the court the apparent motive was a dispute over drugs. He also relayed a witness’s claim that Fortune was killed over drugs belonging to Ratliff. That account, like the assessment that Fortune was killed before being hanged, was presented as testimony by the detective; the supplied reports do not detail the underlying evidence.