Judge sets $5M bond for third man charged in death of Black woman whose body was later hung in tree

(AP) — A Mississippi judge set a $5 million bond Monday for a third man charged in the death of a Black woman whose body was found hanging from a tree in August. Police disclosed Friday that Tasia Fortune, 29, was killed before her body was placed in a tree behind an abandoned house in Jackson. Fortune was Black, and the discovery of her hanging body stoked fear because the scene recalled actual lynchings in the Southern state, which has a long history of racial violence.

Some officials had called for a federal civil rights investigation before a Jackson police detective said the scene was “staged.” “People justifiably didn’t know if we had a killer on the loose who might hang people for racial reasons,” Judge Jeffery Reynolds said Monday. Reynolds presided at a hearing for Eric Clark, 45, who turned himself in Friday. The Hinds County Public Defender’s Office, which is representing him, declined to comment.

Clark and two other men charged in Fortune’s death are Black. The judge said the staged hanging was a “heinous” act that shocked the state capital. Jackson police Detective Samuel Dukes testified last week that Fortune was killed as a result of a dispute over drugs.

___ AP writer Ed White in Detroit contributed. Clark and two other men charged in Fortune’s death are Black.The judge said the staged hanging was a “heinous” act that shocked the state capital.Jackson police Detective Samuel Dukes testified last week that Fortune was killed as a result of a dispute over drugs. 3.___AP writer Ed White in Detroit contributed.