The Jackson Police Department has investigated the death of Tasia Fortune as a homicide from "Day 1," Police Chief RaShall Brackney said Tuesday, Sept. 8, though the state medical examiner has not determined how Fortune died.
Brackney disclosed the department's approach after Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes shared a letter from Fortune's mother, Christy Spivey, during the closing minutes of Tuesday's Jackson City Council meeting. The discussion came hours after an activist interrupted the same council meeting to demand action over what she called "the lynching problem in Jackson, Mississippi."
Spivey wrote that more than a month had passed without answers about her daughter's death. She said communication from detectives had dwindled from repeated updates to silence.
"I have no more answers from Day 1 of this investigation," Spivey wrote. "I'm asking for your assistance in my daughter's 'death investigation,' as they are calling it."
Spivey said the coroner's office told her Fortune's death was a homicide but had not provided that determination in writing. She offered to travel to Jackson and appear before the council if it would help draw attention to the case.
"I will attend anything I need to attend," Spivey wrote.
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After, Brackney said the state medical examiner performed an autopsy about four weeks ago, but JPD has not received its findings.
"Jackson Police Department has been investigating this case from Day 1 as a homicide until we hear otherwise from the medical examiner's office," Brackney said.
Her statement marked the clearest public description yet of how JPD is approaching Fortune's death. The department had previously described it as a "death investigation" and had not publicly classified it as a homicide or said whether investigators suspected foul play.
A homicide investigation does not necessarily mean police have determined that Fortune was killed. The medical examiner must determine the official cause and manner of death.
Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman and mother of four, was found hanging from a tree behind a vacant house on Road of Remembrance on Aug. 3. Her death has drawn national attention and renewed scrutiny of other Black Mississippians found hanging in recent years.
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Brackney said she has contacted the state officials overseeing the medical examiner's office several times, including its Director Dr. Christy S. Simmons to ask when JPD can expect a ruling.
"To date, we have not received the outcomes of that autopsy," Brackney said.
She also pushed back on Spivey's assertion that the family was no longer receiving information. Brackney said investigators remain in frequent contact with Spivey and Fortune's estranged husband and have told them where the investigation stands.
"The coroner cannot give any information to the family that the medical examiner has not given them," Brackney said.
Brackney also said the medical examiner who performed Fortune's autopsy was not the same examiner involved in the Nolan Wells case, contrary to claims she said had circulated publicly.
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Before Brackney spoke, Stokes said questions about Fortune's death and other hanging deaths were spreading far beyond Jackson.
"We cannot sweep this idea under the rug," Stokes said.
In an interview with the Clarion Ledger in August, Stokes pushed for federal involvement in the investigation. He contacted Mississippi's two U.S. senators and wrote to U.S. Attorney Baxter Kruger seeking assistance, citing the state's history of racial violence and what he described as conflicting accounts surrounding Fortune's death.
Stokes cautioned that investigators should determine whether the deaths are isolated or potentially connected. He raised the possibility of racial violence or a person traveling between communities committing lynchings. Authorities have not announced evidence connecting Fortune's death to any other case.
"Whether it's a conspiracy or not, that's why we've got to know specifically what's taking place," Stokes said.
He said hanging carries a particular weight in Mississippi because of the state's history of lynching Black people.
"Hanging is an ugly, ugly part of our past that we never, ever want to come back again," Stokes said.
Council President Vernon Hartley agreed that the investigation should be pursued "to its final conclusion" and asked Brackney to provide the council with an update.
But Brackney cautioned against labeling the deaths as "serial incidents."
"There is a lot of misinformation out there about this case and other ones," she said.
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The discussion came hours after Celina Charles, a self-proclaimed civil rights activist, interrupted the same council meeting to demand action over what she called "the lynching problem in Jackson, Mississippi."
Charles stood and addressed council members and Mayor John Horhn without signing up for public comment. Hartley repeatedly struck his gavel and called for order before Brackney approached Charles, who gathered her belongings and left the chambers.
Charles referenced Fortune and Demartravion "Trey" Reed, a Delta State University student whose 2025 death was ruled a suicide by the state medical examiner. Reed's family and civil rights advocates have continued to question the investigation.
During the meeting, Stokes said he had never met Charles but argued that her appearance showed concern about hanging deaths was growing.
"At the beginning of the council meeting, she was concerned," Stokes said. "There's more and more people concerned about hangings."
Charlie Drape, the Jackson beat reporter, has covered all meetings of the Jackson City Council since 2023. He can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: JPD investigating Tasia Fortune case as homicide, chief tells City Council