Jackson Police Investigate Hanging Death of Tasia Fortune as Homicide

Jackson, Mississippi, police are investigating the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune as a homicide, authorities confirmed this week, while her family demands answers and awaits a final autopsy ruling. Fortune, a mother of four, was found hanging from a tree behind a vacant home on August 3 in a predominantly Black neighborhood of west Jackson. Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney told the city council on Tuesday that the department has treated the case as a homicide from the day the body was discovered. "We are conducting the investigation at the highest appropriate level while we await the medical examiner's findings," Brackney said. The Mississippi State Medical Examiner's Office performed an autopsy approximately four weeks ago but has not yet provided official cause or manner of death findings. Fortune's mother, Christy Spivey, has been pushing for information and stated she does not believe her daughter was suicidal. "She did not do this to herself," Spivey told ABC News. She last saw her daughter on July 26 at a family reunion in Kentucky, describing Fortune as being "better than I had seen her in a long time" and "at peace.