Another Black woman found hanging from a tree behind a vacant home in Jackson, Mississippi, has sparked renewed fears of possible lynchings and demands for a thorough investigation, even as authorities have not determined whether foul play was involved. The most recent incident marks the 6th time a Black person was found hanging from a tree this year in the US.
The woman was discovered Monday night, Aug. 3, in the backyard of a vacant residence in the 500 block of Road of Remembrance, according to the Jackson Police Department. Authorities initially identified her only as an unidentified Black female. She was later identified as 29-year-old Tasia Fortune, according to WLBT. Her next of kin has been notified.
Hinds County Coroner Jeramiah Howard said Fortune’s body would be transported to the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy to establish the cause and manner of death. Police said crime scene investigators are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the death. As of the latest reports, investigators had not said whether foul play was suspected.
The case has also been compared online with the death of 21-year-old De’Martravion “Trey” Reed, a Black Delta State University student who was also found hanging from a tree on campus in Cleveland, Mississippi, in September 2025.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner ruled Reed’s death a suicide and found no evidence of foul play. His family disputed that conclusion and retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump to pursue an independent investigation. The family has said it is still awaiting the final independent autopsy report.
The Black community is skeptical
Over at the r/BlackPeopleofReddit community, however, the suspicion was almost unanimous. A Reddit commenter even claimed that Fortune’s case was part of a broader pattern, listing five other Black people found hanging from trees in Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan earlier this year. The other five were Kyle Bassinga, Juliana Umba Nzita, To’Nea Nicole Miller, Justice Kai James, and Jerard “Jay” Jackson.
Those cases involve separate jurisdictions and circumstances, however, and there is currently no established evidence connecting them to Fortune’s death. Still, people online are starting to question the pattern. One Reddit user reacting to the case wrote, “What the [expletive]. WHAT THE [expletive]. This is so evil,” while another simply assumed that the cause of the situation was “Lynching.”
Others questioned why authorities were using the term “death investigation” and called for a more extensive investigation. One commenter wrote, “My heart sinks further each time I read about ‘another one.’ This is so [expletive] up.” For now, Jackson police continue to investigate Fortune’s death. The pending autopsy is expected to provide critical information about how she died, while authorities have yet to indicate whether the case will be treated as a homicide, suicide, or another manner of death.
