A Mississippi mother is demanding answers after her 29-year-old daughter, Tasia Fortune, was found hanging from tree behind a vacant home in Jackson — and she is adamant that her daughter did not take her own life.
Fortune, a mother of four who had lived in Mississippi for more than a decade, was found by Jackson police on August 3 in the backyard of an abandoned property in the 500 block of Road of Remembrance.
Authorities have not said exactly how she ended up there or whether they believe her death was a suicide or the result of foul play.
Her mother, Christy Spivey, says she simply does not believe suicide makes sense.
Spivey told ABC News that she last saw her daughter on July 26, when Fortune traveled to Kentucky for a family reunion.
According to her mother, Fortune appeared to be doing well and was not acting unusually before she disappeared.
“She did not do this to herself,” Spivey said. “I know my daughter, and she did not do this to herself.”
Now, Fortune’s family is left waiting for answers while investigators work to determine exactly what happened.
The Hinds County Coroner’s Office identified Fortune several days after her body was discovered. Her remains were transferred to the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office, where an autopsy is being conducted to determine the official cause and manner of death.
And now, investigators have reportedly questioned a man who lived near the scene.
According to WLBT, Terence Anderson was interviewed by detectives investigating Fortune’s death. Anderson reportedly acknowledged that he had been involved in an argument with Fortune, but denied having anything to do with her death.
Police also told the court that Anderson and Fortune had been in a relationship. Anderson denied that claim when questioned.
Anderson has not been charged in connection with Fortune’s death.
However, he was arrested on an unrelated charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. A judge set his bond at $250,000, and he was being held at the Hinds County Detention Center.
Jackson police have not publicly named a suspect or officially classified Fortune’s death as a homicide.
That uncertainty has not stopped the case from attracting major attention.
Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes has called Fortune a murder victim and wrote to Mississippi U.S. Attorney Baxter Kruger requesting federal assistance with the investigation.
The circumstances surrounding Fortune’s death have also struck a nerve because of Mississippi’s painful history involving racial violence and the deaths of Black people by hanging.
Fortune’s case comes less than a year after two other people were found hanging from trees in Mississippi. Twenty-one-year-old Delta State University student Trey Reed was found hanging from a tree in Cleveland, Mississippi, in April.
Authorities ultimately determined Reed’s death was a suicide. Another man, Cory Zukatis, was also found hanging from a tree in Vicksburg, and his death was determined to be suicide.
Those previous cases, along with other recent high-profile deaths in Mississippi, have caused some community members to demand a closer look at Fortune’s case.
Still, officials have urged people not to jump to conclusions before investigators finish their work.
A memorial featuring flowers, teddy bears and photographs of Fortune has been placed near the property where her body was discovered. Her loved ones are mourning a mother of four while waiting for the medical examiner to provide answers that could finally explain how she died.
For now, the biggest question remains unanswered: What really happened to Tasia Fortune?
Authorities have not announced a final determination in the case, and no one has been charged in connection with her death. The investigation remains active as officials await the autopsy results.
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