Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Second Suspect Arrested in Hanging Death of Mississippi Mother Tasia Fortune | Crime Alert 09.26.26

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Second Suspect Arrested in Hanging Death of Mississippi Mother Tasia Fortune | Crime Alert 09.26.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alert, hourly update, breaking crime news now.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Sydney Silvani. Police in Jackson, Mississippi have arrested a
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  Speaker 2: second suspect and are actively seeking a third in connection
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  Speaker 2: with the tragic death of 29-year-old mother Tasia Fortune, whose
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  Speaker 2: body was found hanging from a tree behind a vacant
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  Speaker 2: home in August. According to an official press release from
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  Speaker 2: the Jackson Police Department, 25-year-old Ernest Lloyd Jr. was arrested
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  Speaker 2: on Tuesday, September 22nd, facing a murder charge related to
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  Speaker 2: Fortune's death. Lloyd's arrest comes nearly two weeks after police
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  Speaker 2: announced the arrest of 51-year-old Jaquez Ratliff on a murder
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  Speaker 2: charge on September 11. Police confirmed Ratliff had an association
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  Speaker 2: with Fortune, though further details about their connection have not
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  Speaker 2: been disclosed. Ratliff has pleaded not guilty, while it remains
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  Speaker 2: unclear if Lloyd has entered a plea or retained an
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  Speaker 2: attorney to speak on his behalf. Police stated Tuesday they
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  Speaker 2: also obtained an arrest warrant for an unidentified third suspect,
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  Speaker 2: which has been turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service
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  Speaker 2: to be served, adding that additional warrants are forthcoming as
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  Speaker 2: the investigation continues. Fortune, a mother of four young children, Davian, 7, Terrence, Jr., 5, Tristan, 4,
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  Speaker 2: and Dante, 1, was a former star cross-country runner who
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  Speaker 2: was found dead on August 3 behind a vacant Jackson home.
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  Speaker 2: Authorities initially described the case as a death investigation and
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  Speaker 2: remained tight-lipped, sparking growing calls for answers across the local community,
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  Speaker 2: with many pointing to the state's historical legacy of racial violence.
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  Speaker 2: On September 8, Jackson Police Chief Rashal Brackney stated the
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  Speaker 2: department was investigating the death as a homicide pending autopsy results,
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  Speaker 2: which later confirmed homicides. Fortune's mother, Christy Spivey, says the
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  Speaker 2: family is in disbelief and still seeking answers, describing her
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  Speaker 2: daughter as full of laughs and love. A GoFundMe for
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  Speaker 2: funeral expenses has raised over $ 180, 000. More crime and justice
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  Speaker 2: news after this. A Washington state mother has been arrested
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  Speaker 2: and charged after her 8-year-old daughter with special needs was
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  Speaker 2: found dead in an overflowing bathtub in their Spokane home
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  Speaker 2: on Sunday, September 20th. According to court documents, the tragic
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  Speaker 2: investigation began when a downstairs resident reported a severe water leak.
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  Speaker 2: Responding firefighters broke into 23-year-old Traviana Johnson's apartment through a
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  Speaker 2: window and discovered the nonverbal epileptic child unresponsive, floating in
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  Speaker 2: the tub. Johnson allegedly told police she left her daughter
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  Speaker 2: home alone when she went to work Sunday morning. She
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  Speaker 2: claimed she texted her sister for childcare and but admitted
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  Speaker 2: knowing the text failed because she lacked cell service. Family
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  Speaker 2: members described Johnson as a loving mother who typically scheduled
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  Speaker 2: child care ahead of time, though she admitted struggling to
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  Speaker 2: find care. When asked by investigators why she failed to
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  Speaker 2: secure help for Sunday, Johnson allegedly replied, I don't know
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  Speaker 2: how to answer that. During a court hearing, family members
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  Speaker 2: noted Johnson's struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts, and her
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  Speaker 2: mother stepped forward to speak.
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  Speaker 1: I know deep in my heart that she loved her baby,
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  Speaker 1: and she would never do anything to cause her harm.
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  Speaker 1: And if she did, if anything went wrong, I know
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  Speaker 1: it was just not her in her right mind.
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  Speaker 2: Johnson is charged with first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, and first-degree
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  Speaker 2: abandonment of a dependent person, with bond set at $ 500, 000.
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  Speaker 2: In Texas, a nearly six-year search for missing Texas State
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  Speaker 2: University student Jason Landry has come to a definitive end
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  Speaker 2: after DNA testing confirmed human remains found in Caldwell County
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  Speaker 2: belonged to him. Landry was 21 when he vanished on
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  Speaker 2: December 13, 2020, while driving from San Marcos to his
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  Speaker 2: family's home in Missouri City for winter break. Shortly after midnight,
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  Speaker 2: his crashed and abandoned Nissan Altima was discovered on Salt
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  Speaker 2: Flat Road near Luling. 30 miles from San Marcos. His phone, wallet,
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  Speaker 2: and clothing were found near the wreckage, but Landry was
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  Speaker 2: nowhere to be found. That launched years of search operations
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  Speaker 2: totaling thousands of hours. Search teams and volunteers repeatedly searched
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  Speaker 2: the area by land and air, including DPS aircraft grid searches.
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  Speaker 2: By the fifth anniversary, private investigator Coleman Ryan noted search
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  Speaker 2: teams conducted over 30 searches, while the Texas Attorney General's
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  Speaker 2: Cold Case Unit reexamined leads alongside the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office,
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  Speaker 2: Texas DPS, and Texas Search and Rescue. On September 8,
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  Speaker 2: a resident discovered skeletal remains east of Salt Flat Road
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  Speaker 2: between Soda Springs and Biggs Road, outside the established search area.
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  Speaker 2: DNA testing by the University of North Texas Center for
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  Speaker 2: Human Identification confirmed Landry's identity. Investigators stated the remains offer
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  Speaker 2: no insight into cause of death and show no signs
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  Speaker 2: of foul play. Before the discovery, Landry's father, Kent Landry,
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  Speaker 2: described the relentless emotional toll to news outlet KHOU 11.
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  Speaker 2: For over 1,800 days, you wake up in the morning
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  Speaker 2: and you ask yourself, you.
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  Speaker 1: Know, is this going to be the day?
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  Speaker 2: Because, you know, we can get a phone call or
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  Speaker 2: something can break, and to still be waiting after all
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  Speaker 2: these years is... It's certainly somewhere we never expected to be.
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  Speaker 2: Attorney General Ken Paxton stated this development marks a critical
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  Speaker 2: moment in a case weighing heavily on hearts for nearly
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  Speaker 2: six years. Adding his cold case unit will continue fighting
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  Speaker 2: for Texas families as the Landry family requests privacy. For
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  Speaker 2: more crime and justice news, be sure to join us
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  Speaker 2: for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Fox One, YouTube,
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  Speaker 2: Sirius XM, and now streaming on Tubi. With this crime alert,
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  Speaker 2: I'm Sydney Silvani.