A 29-year-old woman whose body was found hanging from a tree in Jackson, Mississippi, last month was killed during a dispute over allegedly stolen drugs, investigators said Friday. Authorities said the hanging appeared to have been staged.

Tasia Sidea Fortune’s body was discovered hanging from a cable attached to a tree behind an abandoned property on Aug. 3. The circumstances of her death drew national attention because the scene evoked Mississippi’s history of racial lynchings.

However, Fortune’s family said they had not believed her death was racially motivated.

Two men, 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff and 25-year-old Earnest Lloyd Jr., both of whom are Black, have been arrested and charged with murder in connection with Fortune’s death. Both remain in custody.

During a preliminary hearing Friday in Jackson Municipal Court, Detective Samuel Dukes of the Jackson Police Department said investigators believe Fortune had been killed at another location before her body was taken to the site where it was discovered.

Dukes said Fortune’s body may have remained hanging for two or three days before it was found. He did not disclose where the killing allegedly occurred or provide details about the precise manner of death.

According to the detective, witnesses told investigators that Fortune had been targeted because she was accused of stealing narcotics. Her family said she had struggled with drug addiction in recent years.

Dukes also said Fortune had fought her attackers, although investigators did not provide further details about the confrontation.

Ratliff’s attorney, Toney Baldwin, said his client was innocent. A preliminary hearing for Lloyd had not yet been scheduled, and his attorney and relatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

Fortune was a mother of four children, ages 7, 5, 4 and 1. Before her death, the children had been living with relatives, but Fortune regularly visited them, according to her mother, Christy Spivey.

Spivey described her daughter as an outgoing and adventurous person who enjoyed talking with people and giving compliments. She said Fortune had experienced difficulties during her childhood, including periods living in group homes and foster care.

Fortune was raised in western Kentucky and was biracial. Her mother is White and her father is Black. Spivey said her daughter experienced racism from members of both sides of the family while growing up.

As a teenager, Fortune became frustrated after being held back in high school and eventually left a foster care home. She later moved to Mississippi, eventually settling in Jackson, where her mother said she began struggling with drug addiction.

“Lots of good people get addicted to drugs,” Spivey said, defending her daughter’s character and asking others not to judge her solely because of her addiction.

In July, Fortune reunited with family members in Kentucky. She spent time swimming and joking with her younger siblings, and her mother later sent her photographs from the gathering.

On July 27, Fortune texted her mother asking her to send all the photographs so she could make a collage. Several days later, however, Spivey began receiving no response to her calls and messages.

In August, a friend in Jackson contacted Spivey and told her that a body had been discovered and might be her daughter. Another person later gave her the same information.

Spivey’s other daughter eventually sent her a photograph that had been circulating online. The medical examiner later confirmed that the woman in the image was Fortune. Authorities apologized to the family after the photograph was circulated before officials had formally notified them.

The investigation remains ongoing, with Ratliff and Lloyd facing murder charges. Authorities have not publicly disclosed all the circumstances surrounding Fortune’s death.

SOURCE: The New York Times, Eduardo Medina, September 25, 2026.