A black mother-of-four whose body was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi was already dead by the time she was discovered, according to a detective.
Police detective Samuel Dukes told Jackson Municipal Court on Friday that the hanging of Tasia Fortune, 29, was ‘staged,’ the Associated Press reported.
Dukes added that Fortune had been killed over a drug dispute and that she fought her assailants hard before her death.
The Jackson police detective cited the medical examiner’s opinion when he made the revelation about Fortune’s death, according to the outlet.
Fortune’s body was found on August 3 outside an abandoned home on the 500 block of Road of Remembrance by Jackson police officers.
The death was ruled a homicide by the state medical examiner’s office on September 10.
Her case has attracted attention because of the Southern state’s extensive history with lynchings.
Jarques Ratliff, 51, was taken into custody by Jackson police one day later, with Earnest Lloyd Jr, 25, being arrested late Tuesday and Eric Clark, 45, on Friday. The three men, all black, have been charged with murder.