USCBS NewsFRI 25 SEP 2026 / 2:48 PM CDT

Tasia Fortune's hanging was "staged" after her death, police say

Investigators believe Tasia Fortune was already dead before the Black woman's body was hanged from a tree behind an abandoned home in the Mississippi capital this summer, a detective testified Friday.

The hanging of Tasia Fortune's body, which was found on Aug. 3, was "staged," Jackson police Det. Samuel Dukes testified, citing the medical examiner's opinion.

Authorities haven't disclosed the exact cause of Fortune's death, but they did rule it a homicide and have arrested two men, both of them Black, on murder charges and issued a warrant for the arrest of a third person.

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Tasia Fortune's hanging was "staged" after her death, police say

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