Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old mother of four, was killed after a dispute over drugs and her body hung from a tree, a Jackson police detective testified Friday during a preliminary hearing for one of the men charged with murder in her death.

Jackson Police Department Detective Samuel Dukes said the defendant, Jarques Ratliff, 51, was one of a group of people involved in the death of the woman, who was found hanging from a tree in west Jackson.

Earlier this week, police arrested another man, Earnest Lloyd Jr., 25, and also charged him with murder in Fortune’s death. Authorities said they were looking for at least one more suspect.

Dukes told the court that Fortune’s hanging was staged after an argument over drugs, saying she was likely killed in a different location then brought outside a vacant home in the 500 block of Road Remambrance, where her body was found Aug. 3.

The detective said Ratliff and Fortune knew each other.

Dukes said that Fortune fought hard for her life.

Fortune’s death became a national headline because the manner she was found in invoked memories of Mississippi’s history of racial terror lynchings. 

Ratliff was arrested and charged with murder for Fortune’s death on Sept. 11. He is being held in custody without bond. Earnest Lloyd, Jr., who was arrested on Sept. 22, was also denied bond during his initial appearance on Sept. 23. Like Fortune, both men are Black.

JPD is working with U.S. Marshals Service to find one suspect, and police Chief RaShall Brackney said that more arrests are on the way.

Dukes said investigators spoke to Ratliff twice before he was arrested, soon after the state medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.

Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey attended Ratliff’s hearing with her husband.

“I felt kind of sad for him. I don’t know why,” Spivey said outside the courthouse during a break in Friday’s proceedings. She wore a black shirt bearing an image of her daughter that said, “Justice for Tasia Fortune.”

Members of Ratliff’s family also attended. Lashuna Jones, Ratliff’s stepdaughter, insisted that he was innocent. 

“I feel like he was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Jones said.

When court returned from its break, Judge Lilli Evans Bass said the hearing would remain in recess until Wednesday afternoon. 

Outside of court, Ratliff’s attorney, Toney Baldwin said, “My client said he is not involved, and that is absolutely what I believe.”