The family of a woman found hanging from a tree in Jackson says they do not believe she took her own life as investigators work to determine the cause of death.
The body of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune was found Monday night, Aug. 3, behind an abandoned house on Road of Remembrance. Six days after the Jackson Police Department responded to the scene and launched an investigation, Fortune’s mother, father, and sister spoke with ABC News on Sunday.
“Tasia loved living life, like there’s no way, no way that she took her own life,” her mother, Christy Spivey, said.
The family of Tasia Fortune, the 29-year-old Mississippi woman found hanging from a tree, is speaking out as the investigation into her death continues. @ReporterFaith reports. pic.twitter.com/QIwJkqqcSS
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 10, 2026
Fortune was a mother of four. Her father, Antonio Fortune, said her children were her priority and that is one of the reasons he believes she did not take her own life.
“She was a good mom,” Antonio Fortune said. “She had her ups and downs, but she loved her kids, she loved her family, and she knew her family loved her.”
Jackson police have arrested an alleged person of interest in Fortune’s case on a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Detectives said in municipal court that Terrence Anderson was questioned and admitted to getting into an argument with Fortune but denied having anything to do with her death, according to WLBT.
ABC News reported that Anderson is also the father of one of Fortune’s children.
“No one’s blaming [Terrence] or anything like that,” Spivey said.
“We just want answers,” Fortune’s sister added.
The Jackson Police Department continues to ask anyone with information relevant to the investigation to come forward. Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes has also requested assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office with the investigation.
Fortune is the third person in Mississippi to be found hanging in the past year. Delta State University student Trey Reed was found dead on campus in September 2025. The following month, Brandon resident Cory Zukatis was found hanging near a Vicksburg casino. Both deaths were ruled suicides.
While Mississippi has a history of racial violence, Spivey said she does not believe her daughter’s death was racially motivated.
“In my heart, I feel like it’s not racially motivated,” Spivey said. “People are talking about, you know, hate and more violence, and I don’t want my daughter’s name to be affiliated with that. I want it to be affiliated with coming together and love and joy because she was the light of the room.”
