A Mississippi councilman is demanding the U.S. Attorney’s Office help investigate a Black woman’s death after she was found hanging in a tree.
Tasia Fortune, 29, was found dead behind a vacant home in Jackson on Aug. 3, according to police. They have not indicated if they suspect foul play.
It’s unclear how long she was hanging until someone found her.
Neighbors called police after finding her body, Mississippi Free Press reported. The outlet also noted that the area is predominantly Black.
Authorities confirmed Fortune’s body was transported to the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office to determine a cause and manner of death.
Investigators have not determined the circumstances surrounding her death.
LaToni Fortune, Tasia’s sister, told Mississippi Today that the last time she saw her sister was in July when she was visiting her family in Kentucky.
Fortune’s aunt, Etta Avolio, posted a tearful tribute to her niece in an online fundraiser.
“The family wants others to know that justice will be served,” the aunt wrote. “They hold firmly to their faith, believing that God is on their side as they walk through this heartbreaking loss.”
Community’s Racist Past Draws Concerns
Although it’s unclear if Fortune’s race played a role in her death, Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes said given the state’s history of lynching, public officials need to say it is unacceptable.
Mississippi has recorded more lynchings than any other U.S. state, with over 580 documented racial terror murders of Black Americans between 1877 and 1950.
During that time, white mobs operated with total legal impunity, enforcing white supremacy, suppressing Black voting rights, and terrorizing communities in the wake of the Civil War.
In a letter from Stokes to the U.S. Attorney’s Office obtained by WAPT, the councilman explained what answers the community needed.
“We especially are in need of the following details: by whom she was murdered, the motive for her murder…as well as other pertinent information,” Stokes wrote.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to Stokes for a statement but did not hear back.
“What I know is I don’t have to go searching for revenge because I know God will handle this,” Avolio wrote on Facebook. “Do I want to go and pull a scene from the movie ‘Taken’? Yes, I do, but if I do or anyone else does that, more lives will be taken.”
Person of Interest Arrested
A man said to be a person of interest in connection with Fortune’s death was arrested on an unrelated charge last week.
According to WLBT, Terence Anderson was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is being held on a $250,000 bond.
In court, detectives testified that Anderson had been questioned about Fortune’s death. He denied any involvement but acknowledged that he had argued with her.
Jackson Police could not confirm with the outlet that he was a person of interest.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to Fortune’s family for more information but has not heard back.
