Man pleads not guilty to murdering woman found hanging from tree in Mississippi
A man allegedly connected with the death of a 29-year-old Black woman whose body was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi last month pleaded not guilty on Monday after being charged with murder.
Jarques Ratliff, 51, who is Black, was charged with using a black cable cord to hang Tasia Fortune from a tree, according to Jackson, Miss., ABC affiliate station WAPT.
Ratliff's attorney said his client was gainfully employed and argued for him to be released on bond while awaiting trial but the judge denied the request, according to WAPT.
Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney acknowledged at a press conference on Friday that the case has "raised questions and the desire for answers, given Mississippi's history."
"We understand this case is being viewed through a broader lens, a global lens, and we do not dismiss those concerns. We are taking them seriously," she said. "At the same time, we do have a responsibility to make sure that what we say publicly is supported by our evidence and facts."
Police told the judge that when they initially went to arrest Ratliff he was hiding in a car and that he was later arrested walking down a street, WAPT reported.
Fortune, a mother of four, was found dead "in a hanging position" on a tree behind a vacant home in Jackson on Aug. 3, police said. Ratliff was arrested on Friday.
Her death has been ruled a homicide, Brackney said on Friday, noting that the medical examiner's office made the classification on Thursday, a month after Fortune's autopsy was completed.
"With that determination, our investigators moved quickly," Brackney said.
Police secured two search warrants and an arrest warrant for the suspect, she said. Police said the suspect had an "association" with Fortune but declined to provide additional details.
More arrests are expected in the case, according to Brackney.
"That arrest today is an important development in this investigation, but it is not the conclusion," Brackney said Friday. "This case remains active, and additional arrests will be pending as our investigators continue to follow the evidence wherever it leads."
Fortune's family released a statement on Monday regarding Ratcliffe's arrest.
"We would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support and are grateful for the silence to be broken but we also want to say that we wish for people to have patience and wait for the rest of the facts to come out before jumping to conclusions," Fortune's family said in a statement Monday following Ratcliffe's arrest. "We are hoping soon we will have more answers."
Fortune's body was found in various stages of decomposition, Brackney said Friday. The police chief did not announce an official cause of death, only that she was "found in the position of hanging."
ABC News' Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this story.
