The state medical examiner ruled Fortune’s death a homicide, allowing Jackson police to execute warrants in a case that drew national attention.
JACKSON, Miss. — Jackson police have arrested a 51-year-old man on a murder charge in the death of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old mother of four whose body was found behind a vacant home in August, after the state medical examiner formally classified her death as a homicide.
Jarques Ratliff was arrested Friday, Sept. 11, after investigators received the medical examiner’s determination Thursday evening, Police Chief RaShall Brackney said. The ruling allowed investigators to move forward with search and arrest warrants that police had already prepared. Authorities said Saturday that the investigation remained active and that additional arrests were expected.
Fortune was found Aug. 3 in the backyard of a vacant home on Road of Remembrance in west Jackson. Police initially classified the case as a death investigation while awaiting the medical examiner’s findings. The circumstances in which Fortune was discovered drew widespread public attention and questions about whether another person had been involved in her death.
Police executed two search warrants Friday but did not initially locate Ratliff at the places they searched. Officers later encountered him walking along Capitol Street and took him into custody, according to police. Hinds County jail records listed Ratliff on a murder charge Saturday. Authorities have not publicly released the evidence supporting the charge.
Brackney said Ratliff had an association with Fortune but declined to explain the nature of their relationship. Investigators have interviewed nearly 15 people during the inquiry, according to police. Brackney said Ratliff’s arrest was an important development but stressed that it did not mark the end of the investigation. Police have not publicly identified a suspected motive.
The case has received particular scrutiny because Fortune was Black and because the circumstances surrounding the discovery of her body evoked Mississippi’s history of racial violence and lynching. Brackney said investigators understood those concerns but would base their public statements on evidence. Police have not announced evidence of a racial motive or classified Fortune’s killing as a hate crime.
Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, said she was grateful to learn that an arrest had been made but said the family still lacked answers about what happened. She told The Associated Press that she did not know Ratliff and had begun asking people who knew her daughter whether they recognized his name. Police had not told the family what motive investigators were considering or whether DNA evidence played a role in the arrest, Spivey said.
Spivey had maintained publicly since her daughter’s death that she did not believe Fortune died by suicide. The medical examiner’s homicide ruling means authorities determined that Fortune’s death resulted from the actions of another person, but police have not publicly explained the specific circumstances of the killing. Ratliff’s murder charge remains an allegation and has not been adjudicated in court.
Fortune was originally from Kentucky and had lived in Jackson for about a decade. Family members and an obituary remembered her as a former cross-country athlete with a strong religious faith. Her mother said Fortune had experienced periods of homelessness and other difficulties but had recently talked about trying to improve her circumstances, including plans to start a cleaning business. She was the mother of four children and had two sisters with whom she remained close.
The last time Spivey saw Fortune was in late July, when Fortune traveled to Kentucky around the time of a planned family reunion. Funeral services were held in Kentucky in August. In Jackson, flowers, balloons and other items were placed at a memorial near the property where Fortune was found as relatives and community members continued to seek answers about her death.
As of Saturday, police had released little additional information about the evidence in the case and had not announced the identities of any other potential suspects. Mississippi State Defender André de Gruy told The Associated Press that Ratliff should appear in Jackson Municipal Court no later than Monday morning, Sept. 14. It was not immediately clear Saturday whether Ratliff had an attorney. Police said investigators continued to follow evidence and expected additional arrests.
Author note: Last updated September 13, 2026.