2nd suspect arrested in death of woman found hanging from tree in Mississippi
Police arrested two suspects on suspicion of murder in Tasia Fortune's death.
A second suspect was arrested on murder charges on Tuesday in the death of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old Black mother of four whose body was found hanging from a tree on Aug. 3 in Jackson, Mississippi.
Police arrested Earnest Lloyd Jr., a 25-year-old Black man, on murder charges in Fortune's death, Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney announced during the Jackson City Council meeting on Tuesday. It is unclear if Lloyd has retained an attorney.
He was denied bond in a hearing on Tuesday, according to ABC affiliate station in Jackson, WAPT.
Brackney also indicated that a third arrest is expected.
"We had two more arrest warrants issued in this case for Tasia Fortune," Brackney said. "And what I can tell you is, today, we've taken another person in custody and charged them with homicide in this case."
Jackson police said in a press release on Tuesday that the arrest warrant for the third suspect was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service for assistance in this case. Officials will not disclose the third suspect's identity at this time, they noted.
According to Brackney, Fortune's death was classified as a "homicide" by the medical examiner's office, but the manner of death has not been released. ABC News reached out to the Jackson Police Department for further comment.
Lloyd's arrest on Tuesday came after Jarques Ratliff, a 51-year-old Black man, was arrested on Sept. 11 on murder charges. According to an affidavit, Ratliff is accused of using a black cable cord to hang Fortune from a tree, WAPT reported. Ratliff pleaded not guilty during a hearing on Sept. 14.
Ratliff’s attorney Toney Baldwin said during the hearing that his client was gainfully employed and argued for him to be released on bond while awaiting trial, but the judge denied the request, according to WAPT.
On Wednesday, Baldwin confirmed to ABC News that his client pleaded not guilty. He said that Ratliff is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Thursday morning, but when asked about the murder charge, he did not provide further comment.
Following Ratliff's arrest, Fortune's family told ABC News in a statement that they are "grateful" for the arrest, and called for "patience" from the public as the investigation takes its course.
"We would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support and are grateful for the silence to be broken but we also want to say that we wish for people to have patience and wait for the rest of the facts to come out before jumping to conclusions," Fortune's family said in a statement Monday following Ratliffe's arrest. "We are hoping soon we will have more answers."
Christy Spivey, Fortune's mother, told ABC News last week that she does not know Ratliffe and does not know the nature of his relationship with Fortune.
On Aug. 8, Spivey told ABC News about the impact her daughter's death had on her family.
"This has just devastated us," she said. "Tasia was strong-minded, she was full of laughs and love, she had faith in God ... She had so little and gave so much."
ABC News reached out to Fortune's family on Wednesday for further comment after the second arrest was announced.
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