# Police say Mississippi woman's body was staged

> Tasia Fortune was dead before being hanged from a tree, authorities say, leaving her mother with more questions than answers.
- Title: Police say Mississippi woman's body was staged · BBC News
- Summary: Tasia Fortune was dead before being hanged from a tree, authorities say, leaving her mother with more questions than answers. Police say Tasia Fortune, found…
- Keywords: tasia fortune, jackson mississippi, homicide, staged crime scene, christy spivey, jackson police department, news, world, Police, say, Mississippi, woman's
- Source: BBC News — https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq4gmmdl52rgo
- Published: 2026-09-26T21:13:13.408+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: tasia fortune, jackson mississippi, homicide, staged crime scene, christy spivey, jackson police department, news, world
## Woman found hanging in tree
Tasia Fortune, a twenty-nine-year-old mother of four, was found hanging from a tree at an abandoned home in Jackson, Mississippi in August. The discovery sparked widespread fears in the majority-black city because of the state's deep history of racial violence and lynchings.
## Police say body was staged
On Friday, the Jackson Police Department said that the medical examiner determined Fortune's death was a homicide and that the scene and the hanging were staged. She had been dead before her body was placed at the tree.

> the scene and the hanging were staged
## Mother shocked by revelation
Christy Spivey, Fortune's mother, told the BBC she initially felt relief learning her daughter did not die by hanging. But when police called with the update, she started crying and thanked them, feeling more at peace than before.

> When the police called me, I started crying and thanked them and felt a little more at peace than I had before
## Key details still missing
Police have not disclosed the exact cause of death or shared any potential motive. Spivey said she still has no cause of death, no date of death, and no explanation of how the three arrested suspects were connected to her daughter.

> Still no cause of death, no date of death - nothing. What actually killed her?
## Drug dispute theory emerges
Police told a court on Friday that Fortune's death was thought to result from a drug-related dispute. A detective said Fortune may have been killed over allegations she stole drugs. Three people, all black, have been arrested in the case.
## Mother rejects drug allegations
Spivey rejected the drug theft allegations but acknowledged her daughter suffered from addiction and was homeless at the time of her death. Fortune's four sons, aged one to seven, are now living with family and friends, with two in the process of being adopted.

> If she still was doing drugs, which I'm sure she probably was, she still didn't deserve to be done like that. Nobody does.
## Key takeaway

Police say Tasia Fortune, found hanging from a tree in Jackson, Mississippi in August, was dead before her body was placed there, but have not disclosed the cause of death or motive.