Police in Jackson arrested Jarques Ratliff, 51, in connection with Tasia Fortune’s death and said the case will be charged as a murder. Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney said the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, putting the case on a murder track as investigators keep working through evidence.
RaShall Brackney on Friday
Brackney said Friday that investigators had interviewed 15 people and that the arrest was not the end of the work. “That arrest today is an important development in this investigation, but it is not the conclusion,” she said. She also said, “This case remains active.”
She added, “Additional arrests will be pending as our investigators continue to follow the evidence.” That means the arrest of Ratliff is the first public step toward a murder case, not the final one. Police have tied the suspect to Fortune through an association Brackney mentioned at the news conference, but she did not lay out the evidence that led to the arrest.
Christy Spivey on the call
Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, said police called to update her on the arrest. “I guess I do feel like a little sigh of relief...like a little bit of peace just come over me,” she said after hearing the news, adding, “I just hope that they've got the right person.”
Spivey also said she had tried repeatedly to reach police and had not gotten a response, while Brackney said the family had been in constant contact throughout the case. That split matters because the arrest now sits alongside a dispute over how much information police shared while Fortune’s death drew concern in Jackson.
Jackson case moving forward
Fortune’s body was found in the lot of an abandoned home in Jackson in August, and police said earlier this week that they were treating the death as a possible homicide. On Tuesday, a letter from Spivey about limited communication and the speed of the investigation was read during a public city meeting.
More than 50 members of Congress later sent a letter to the FBI and justice department saying they were extremely alarmed by reports of black people found hanging from trees in numerous states. For Jackson residents following this case, Friday’s arrest answers one immediate question but leaves the central one in place: what evidence linked Ratliff to Fortune’s death.
