The death of a black woman found hanged from a tree was peddled by left-wing activists as a racist lynching to further divide Americans, but police say it was something else altogether.
29-year-old Tasia Fortune, a mother to four children, was found dead in the back yard of an abandoned house in Jackson, Mississippi, on Aug. 3.
‘Not only was the act itself heinous, but what it was, I believe, intended to imply was also heinous.’
Even after a black man was arrested for his alleged part in Fortune’s murder, many continued to peddle the falsehood that Fortune’s death was emblematic of the nation’s racist past.
That narrative was further derailed by new details in the case released on Monday.
Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney said in a press conference that an investigation determined that Fortune had been killed after a drug deal went wrong, and her “lynching” was staged afterward.
“So at this time, we do know the manner of death was homicide. We also are confirming that this was a staged event, and often we know that these events are staged so that we can derail the investigation, pointing in another direction,” Brackney said.
Police said 45-year-old Eric Clark used “props” to make it appear that the mother of four children had been killed in a racist lynching.
“Not only was the act itself heinous, but what it was, I believe, intended to imply was also heinous,” Brackney added.
Police said a witness told them Clark and two other people left with Fortune but that the three men came back without the woman. Days later, she was found hanging from a tree.
The witness allegedly said Clark came back dirty and sweaty with a pocket full of money.
Two other men were arrested in the case and were identified as 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff and 25-year-old Earnest Lloyd Jr.
Brackney said that she expects conspiracy charges to be filed in the case as the investigation continues.
She added that there was a known association between Fortune and the suspects arrested.
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Clark pleaded not guilty and was given a $5 million bond. Requests for bonds were rejected for Ratliff and Lloyd.
Fortune’s family said in a statement Monday that the public should reject making hasty assumptions about the case.
“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.”
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