JACKSON, Miss. — Police in Jackson, Mississippi, have arrested a second man in connection with the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune, whose body was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned house earlier this year.

Jackson police said 25-year-old Earnest Lloyd Jr. was arrested Tuesday in connection with Fortune’s death. He appeared in court Wednesday and was denied bond.

Lloyd, like Fortune and the first person arrested in the case, is Black. Authorities have also issued an arrest warrant for a third suspect and said additional arrests could follow.

According to investigators cited by local television station WLBT, witnesses led police to Lloyd after an alleged physical confrontation between him and Fortune shortly before her death. Police contend that Lloyd used a black cable cord to hang Fortune.

Investigators believe several people may have been involved in the killing. WLBT reported that three other people are suspected of having some connection to Fortune’s death, although authorities have not publicly detailed each person’s alleged role.

Police and a court clerk said Wednesday that they were unaware whether Lloyd had obtained an attorney.

Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, attended Lloyd’s court hearing and said she was relieved to see arrests being made. She also emphasized that the defendants should be considered innocent unless proven guilty.

“My family is not the only family that this is affecting,” Spivey said, expressing sympathy for the families of the accused while noting that her daughter cannot be brought back.

The first suspect, 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff, was arrested in September on a murder charge. He pleaded not guilty and remains jailed without bond. His attorney, Toney Baldwin, has not responded to requests for comment.

Police have not released the identity of the third suspect named in the new arrest warrant or explained publicly how that person may have been connected to Fortune’s death.

Authorities have also not announced a possible motive. The case has attracted significant public attention because Fortune was found hanging from a tree, a manner of death that recalled the history of lynching in Mississippi and other parts of the American South.

Fortune was originally from Kentucky and had four children, relatives said. She had lived in Jackson for about a decade.

Spivey previously said her daughter had experienced homelessness in recent years and that she did not know where Fortune was living when she died.

Before her death, Fortune had spoken about plans to start a cleaning business and efforts to rebuild her life, according to her mother.

The investigation remains ongoing as police seek the third suspect and consider additional arrest warrants.

SOURCE: Associated Press (AP), Sophie Bates, September 24, 2026.