US court sets $5 million bond for third suspect in Tasia Fortune’s death — The Guardian

A judge in Mississippi, US, set bail at $5 million for 45-year-old Eric Clark — the third man charged in the case of the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune. Her body was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned house in Jackson, the state capital, on August 3.

Police version

Jackson police said that Fortune died before her body was placed on the tree. Law enforcement officers also stated that the scene had been staged: items were left there to create the impression of a hanging.

Jackson Police Chief Rashall Brackney reiterated that, according to investigators, Fortune died as a result of a dispute over drugs. She also told reporters that further arrests were possible in the case, The Guardian reports.

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Court decisions

Clark turned himself in to authorities on Friday. The Hinds County public defender’s office, which represents him, declined to comment. The court also denied bail to two other defendants in the case — Jarkes Ratliff and Ernest Lloyd Jr.

Judge Jeffrey Reynolds described the incident as brutal and one that shocked Jackson. The discovery of Fortune’s body in a tree raised concerns because of associations with lynchings that occurred in Mississippi in the past. Before police announced that the scene had been staged, some officials had called for a federal investigation into a possible civil rights violation.

Words of the deceased woman’s mother

Tasia Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, said that Clark approached her and hugged her after Ratliff’s hearing. According to her, the man did not admit guilt but said that he had come to turn himself in on a murder charge.