A third person has been arrested in the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune in Mississippi’s capital city, while investigators said they had determined the scene where her body was found hanging had been staged. Eric Clark, 45, surrendered to authorities on Friday and was charged with murder, according to the Jackson police department (JPD). Clark was scheduled to make a court appearance on Monday.
Police disclosed Friday that an autopsy investigation concluded “the scene and the hanging were staged”. Authorities did not release additional information about the circumstances surrounding Fortune’s killing or why investigators believe the scene was faked. Clark’s arrest comes after two other men, Earnest Lloyd Jr and Jarques Ratliff, were charged with murder in connection with Fortune’s death.
The case leading to the arrests of Clark, Lloyd Jr and Ratliff had drawn national attention because of the severity of Fortune’s killing and Mississippi’s history of racist violence and lynchings. Clark, Lloyd Jr, Ratliff are Black, as was Fortune. Fortune, a mother of four, was discovered on 3 August hanging from a tree behind a vacant home on the 500 block of Road of Remembrance in the western part of Jackson.
Investigators have said Fortune was not killed at the location where her body was found. JPD detective Samuel Dukes previously described Fortune’s hanging in court as “staged”, saying investigators believe she was killed somewhere else before her body was placed in a hanging position in the tree on Road of Remembrance. He added investigators determined Fortune had been dead for two to three days before her body was discovered.
Police have released few details about the events leading to Fortune’s death. Detectives have interviewed as many as 15 people, according to the police news release. Local TV news station WLBT reported an alleged physical altercation between Lloyd, 25, and Fortune that occurred shortly before her death.
Police accused Lloyd of using a black cable cord to hang Fortune, according to WLBT. Ratliff and Lloyd have both reportedly pleaded not guilty. Each has been denied bond.
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