A Mississippi man accused of murder in the hanging death of a 29-year-old Black woman behind an abandoned home pleaded not guilty during his first court appearance Monday.
Jarques Ratliff, 51, was ordered held without bond by a Municipal Court judge following his arrest Friday. The victim, Tasia Fortune, was found dead Aug. 3 hanging from a tree by a black cable cord in Jackson, the state capital. The state medical examiner later ruled her death a homicide.