A Mississippi woman found hanging in a tree will be laid to rest this weekend. Here’s the latest
By Chris Boyette, CNN
(CNN) — Amid the gentle slopes of Greenville, Kentucky’s historic West End Cemetery, preparations are underway for the burial of Tasia Fortune, whose family hopes she’s remembered for her intelligence, talent and faith, even as investigators in Mississippi continue to probe how the 29-year-old Black woman came to be found dead hanging from a tree outside an abandoned house in Jackson over two weeks ago.
Fortune had lived in Jackson for the past 10 years, according to her obituary, but she came from Kentucky, where a funeral service will be held Saturday at Tucker Funeral Home before she is interred at West End, a historically Black cemetery nearby.
Jackson Police have categorized Fortune’s case as “a death pending investigation,” and the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy last week, police said.
Those results are still pending, and police have not indicated whether they suspect foul play, but the violent history of race relations in the state combined with two other recent hangings in Mississippi have sparked interest and concern in Fortune’s death.
Those hangings were ultimately ruled as suicides, but widespread criticism of the investigation into the death of Nolan Xavier Wells, off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast last month, has further led to questions about how Fortune died.
Christy Spivey, Fortune’s mother, told ABC News her daughter was a loving mother of four, who was not behaving strangely when she last saw her in Kentucky last month for a family reunion.
“She did not do this to herself,” Spivey said. “I know my daughter, and she did not do this to herself.”
Jackson police acknowledged the case’s “significant public attention” and the “speculation circulating across social media,” urging patience as the investigation continues.
“We recognize the deeply sensitive nature of this case and the understandable concern within the community,” police said in a statement. “We urge the public and media not to speculate or draw conclusions about the circumstances, cause, or manner of Ms. Fortune’s death before the Medical Examiner’s Office has completed its review and issued an official determination.”
CNN has contacted the medical examiner’s office for an update on its determination in Fortune’s death.
Jackson’s mayor also said he wants to allow the investigation to run its course.
“People are upset about it. Quite naturally, they should be. This is something that’s a very disturbing situation and case in our city, in our state,” Mayor John Horhn told CNN affiliate WAPT. “But we’re not going to jump to conclusions.”
Her body was found hanging in a backyard
Jackson police said officers responded to the abandoned home on August 3rd and, according to the Associated Press, discovered a body later identified as Fortune hanging in the backyard.
There have been no arrests made in relation to the death, police told CNN, but the father of one of Fortune’s children was arrested shortly after the discovery of her body on unrelated weapons charges, jail records show.
Tony Anderson, the man’s brother, told CNN the home where Fortune’s body was found is next door to his brother’s home. He said the two had remained in contact and Fortune often visited his brother’s home.
Still, he said he does not believe his brother was involved in Fortune’s death.
“I do not think my brother would do something like that,” Anderson said. “He’s not the type of person.”
A life of resilience and faith
Fortune had a firm belief in God, according to her obituary, but her “path was not always easy,” it said. “There were highs and lows.”
A week after Fortune’s body was found, the AP reported that a pink and white memorial honoring her life stood as a bright spot in the otherwise overgrown backyard of the abandoned house, with rainbow pinwheels, white flowers and teddy bears surrounding a photograph of Fortune.
CNN has reached out to Fortune’s family for more information about her.
Fortune was “intelligent and talented” her obituary said.
She skipped her junior year of high school and was a star cross-country athlete, according to her obituary, which said she left “a powerful legacy of resilience” rooted in her “unwavering faith.”
“Even in her darkest hours, she never stopped believing in her Savior,” the obituary said.
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CNN’s Amanda Musa contributed to this report
