Mother of Woman Found Hanging in Jackson: 'She Did Not Do This'
Tasia Fortune, 29, was found hanging from a tree in Jackson, Mississippi, on Aug. 3; her cause of death has not been determined.
The mother of a 29-year-old woman whose body was found hanging from a tree in Jackson, Mississippi, said she does not believe her daughter took her own life, as police and the state medical examiner work to determine how she died.
Tasia Fortune was found on Aug. 3 in the backyard of an abandoned house on the Road of Remembrance in Jackson. Her mother, Christy Spivey, told ABC News on Sunday afternoon that the death has shattered the family.
"This has just devastated us," Spivey said. "Tasia was strong-minded, she was full of laughs and love, she had faith in God … She had so little and gave so much."
Spivey said she last saw her daughter, a mother of four, on July 26, after Fortune traveled from Mississippi — where she had lived for more than a decade — to Kentucky for a family reunion. Asked about Fortune's state of mind at the time, Spivey said, "She was better than I had seen her in a long time. She was at peace."
Asked directly whether her daughter could have died by suicide, Spivey said: "She did not do this to herself. I know my daughter and she did not do this to herself."
A spokesperson for the Jackson Police Department confirmed to ABC News on Saturday night that officers are investigating the death and that the Hinds County Coroner's Office identified Fortune. Asked about the status of the investigation and whether any persons of interest had been interviewed, the spokesperson declined to comment further.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner's Office is conducting an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death, a spokesperson confirmed.
Jackson City Council member Kenneth Stokes wrote to U.S. Attorney Baxter Kruger seeking federal help, according to a letter obtained by ABC News. "We are in dire need of the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office with the death of an unidentified female discovered hanging in the backyard of an abandoned house on the Road of Remembrance in Jackson, Mississippi," the letter says. The woman was later identified as Fortune.
ABC News reached out to Stokes for further comment. Kruger did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether his office is involved.
Police are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 601-355-TIPS.
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
