The mother of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman whose body was found hanging from a tree on Aug. 3 in Jackson, Mississippi, told ABC News on Sunday afternoon that her daughter’s death has “just devastated” her family.

“This has just devastated us,” Fortune’s mother Christy Spivey said. “Tasia was strong-minded, she was full of laughs and love, she had faith in God … She had so little and gave so much.”

Spivey said that she last saw her daughter, who is a mother of four, on July 26 after she traveled from Mississippi, where she has lived for over a decade, to Kentucky for a family reunion.

When asked about Fortune’s state of mind the last time she saw her, Spivey said, “She was better than I had seen her in a long time. She was at peace.” Asked if her daughter could have died by suicide, Spivey said, “She did not do this to herself. I know my daughter and she did not do this to herself.”

A spokesperson for the Jackson Police Department (JPD) confirmed to ABC News on Saturday night that police are investigating Fortune’s death and confirmed that the Hinds County Coroner’s Office identified Fortune.

Asked about the status of the investigation and if any persons of interest have been interviewed, the spokesperson did not provide further comment.

The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting an autopsy to determine Fortune’s cause and manner of death, a spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.

Jackson City Council member Kenneth Stokes sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney Baxter Kruger, asking for help in investigating this case, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.

“We are in dire need of the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office with the death of an unidentified female discovered hanging in the backyard of an abandoned house on the Road of Remembrance in Jackson, Mississippi,” the letter says.

The woman has since been identified as Fortune.

ABC News reached out to Stokes for further comment. Asked if his office is investigating this case, Kruger did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Police are asking anyone with information about the case to call Crime Stoppers at 601-355-TIPS.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You are not on your own.

• Mississippi Democrats are struggling to find a candidate for the 2027 gubernatorial election despite a close race in 2023.
• The national Democratic party has increased its financial investment in the state, signaling a growing interest in the region.
• Many in the party hope former candidate Brandon Presley will run again, as he came within 30,000 votes of the incumbent in 2023.
• Political strategists believe a Democratic candidate could still win by focusing on local issues and voter dissatisfaction with current leadership.

Imagine yourself as a Mississippi Democrat.

The election for governor in 2023 was a feat, with a Democratic candidate who came close to ousting an incumbent — 26,000 votes close.

Republican-led redistricting on the horizon is likely a net loss for your party, but it has had the unintended consequence of stirring up some previously jaded voters. The national party is looking at you more closely, too. The party and its affiliated committees have poured nearly $140,000 into your state organization since the start of the year.

And prognosticators say there is hope for you in the midterms yet: some of your candidates for U.S. House and Senate are outraising their incumbent opponents handily and drumming up support throughout the reliably red state.

The governor election in 2027 is a crucial moment, and a crowded Republican field could divide the voter base enough for your candidate to do what Brandon Presley almost managed last time around. There’s one big problem, though. There’s less than a year until the primary election, and the leaders of your party don’t have a candidate.

‘Waiting as long as we can’

There isn’t one path to the governor’s office, but the vast majority of successful candidates have made their way to the seat through other statewide positions.

Gov. Tate Reeves and his predecessor Phil Bryant both launched their gubernatorial campaigns from the lieutenant governor’s office. Two of the Republican candidates for governor occupy statewide positions now, and the third gained state and national attention for his work in the Mississippi House of Representatives.

There are no Democratic politicians in any statewide position, and though some hold regional seats as transportation or public service commissioners, lawmakers have generally agreed that they lack the name recognition for a run at the governor’s seat.

A Democratic legislator recounted to the Clarion Ledger a May conversation between three party members weighing a potential candidate. The legislator, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal party discussions, said the call ended as it began: without any ideas.

“Every person we’d suggest, someone would have a good reason to take them out of consideration,” the lawmaker said. “One person didn’t have enough experience, another was good on paper but not personable enough to win people over, the third wouldn’t be able to bring in any Republicans.”

The lawmaker indicated, in a sentiment that seems to echo around the Capitol, that 2023 Democratic candidate Brandon Presley is the party’s best prospect. Presley is a former public service commissioner with a very famous family.

Presley didn’t win, but his success marked a victory for the party. Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, the House minority leader and one of the longest serving legislators in the party, said officials are “waiting as long as we can to see if he would be interested in running again.”

Immediately after the 2023 election, Presley refused to rule out a second attempt at the governor’s office. In that cycle, he declared his candidacy in January 2023, just eight months before the primary and 11 months before the general election. When asked on Aug. 6 whether he planned to run for governor, he didn’t indicate one way or another, saying that he would let the Clarion Ledger know if he had any announcements.

The Clarion Ledger asked more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers in the state Legislature whether they would consider running for governor, and the response from the majority of them was lukewarm. Many legislators said they would not want to give up their seat in a safely Democratic district to run what they viewed as a long-shot, rushed campaign.

‘The national party is willing to commit’

For years, Mississippi has ranked among the most Republican states. The national Democratic Party has largely directed its efforts, and dollars, to states with more competitive races. That approach has evolved recently, said a party employee granted anonymity to discuss the group’s financial strategy with the Clarion Ledger.

“We want to invest money into Southern states,” the official said in a June interview. “Democrats are winning in the South, and even when they’re not winning, they’re making a name for themselves and the party in groups that have lost confidence in us.”

The party employee pointed to Scott Colom, a district attorney challenging Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith for a U.S. Senate seat, as an example of successful grassroots campaigning that has gained traction. Colom is traveling throughout Mississippi doing the kind of “door-knocking and handshaking” that translates into November votes, they said.

The Democratic National Committee and its affiliated Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund have contributed significant amounts to the Mississippi Democratic Party this year, which intensified in April when Reeves brought the topic of redistricting to the Legislature’s doorstep.

Reeves announced on April 24 a redistricting special session to address the configuration of the state’s Supreme Court districts. That day, the national Democratic Party funneled $22,500 into the state party’s piggy bank. Just over a month later, the grassroots victory fund made a $25,600 contribution.

“The national party is willing to commit hundreds of thousands of dollars, probably more than a million, to a competitive, eager Democrat who wants to be the governor,” the party official said. “Everyone is upset about the economy and the war and the state of health care, and even lifelong Republicans are potentially looking for something new. We have an incredible opportunity to take advantage of this frustration; we just need the state officials to give us a name to rally behind.”

The national party is not the only one pouring money into the Magnolia State. American Bridge 21st Century, the largest progressive super PAC in the country, is making a $2 million advertising investment in Mississippi ahead of the midterms to support Colom.

A similarly “exciting and marketable” candidate for governor, the national party employee said, would almost certainly be able to bring in comparable support.

Is all hope lost for Mississippi Democrats?

Campaigns are like snowflakes, said Democratic strategist Letitia Jackson, in that no two are identical. What they all have in common, she said, is a focus on two elements: familiarity and money.

Jackson has worked primarily on campaigns for U.S. House and Senate, but she said that governor races are close to those because both require statewide support and tend to stretch into the upper levels of spending. When asked about the 2027 elections in Mississippi, she warned that the Democratic Party needs to take action as quickly as possible.

“We’re not at the tornado siren yet, but the alarm bells are ringing,” she said in a July 21 interview. “Someone notable needs to step up, with the full support of the state party, and embrace campaigning with their whole heart if we’re going to run a serious race here.”

Jackson argued that there are benefits to delaying a candidate announcement. While jumping into the race at the first opportunity lets you spend years, not months, building a brand for yourself among your potential voters, she said, it also demands a continuous donation stream that many people can’t maintain.

The party is at a slight advantage in that arena, Jackson said, because it has received large cash infusions from the national party in recent months. It is unclear whether the national Democratic Party, in the midst of a donation slump, can keep disbursing that money in Mississippi indefinitely.

Her assessment, Jackson told the Clarion Ledger, was that a year is “workable” for Mississippi Democrats if they “pursue an aggressive ground game and make up ground where Republicans are losing it.”

“A lot of people are upset with the current administrations, Trump and Tate [Reeves], and that’s where they need to get in,” Jackson said. “The Democrats need to run an all-out campaign: town halls across the state, a platform that focuses on cost of living and health care, support locally from the people in office now.”

People feel differently about their local representatives, from school board members to state lawmakers, than they do about the candidates on a statewide ballot, Jackson said.

“They vote for the governor because he’s a Republican; they vote for their state senator because he sits in their row at church and once spent two hours walking them through a government website,” she said. “A Democratic candidate [for governor] needs to forge those relationships on the local level and navigate the campaign with that crucial support.”

Jackson’s final verdict: Democrats can still win if they move fast. Johnson made the same prediction.

Johnson acknowledged how “extremely frustrating” it is to watch the clock tick down without a candidate and asked Democratic voters in the state to “be patient.

PEARL – Natchez native and Delta State University coaching great Ronnie Mayers received one of the greatest honors any sports figure in Mississippi could ever get as he was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame on Aug. 1 at the Clyde Muse Center in Pearl.

Mayers made a name for himself coaching and promoting the sport of swimming in Cleveland and the state of Mississippi.

Mayers, 74, began the age group swimming program the Delta Aquatic Club in 1974, which has given many youth a chance to participate and compete in swimming. Ten years later at Delta State University, Mayers, with support from then athletic director Dr. Brad Hovious, started the men’s and women’s swimming programs at the university as he was named the head coach for both programs.

During a 20-year run leading the teams, Mayers guided the Statesmen to six New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference Championships and the Lady Statesmen to five NSISC Titles with both programs combining for 15 NCAA Division II National Championship appearances.

The two programs ended up having a combined 220 all-conference swimmers, 113 individual conference champions and 56 All-Americans in Mayers’ tenure. Also during Mayers’ run, DSU had an individual national championship on the men’s side as Justin Whitaker won the 100-yard backstroke (48.95) at the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving National Championships in 2002. The swimming facility at Delta State University is named the Ronald G. Mayers Aquatic Center.

After his time as swim coach concluded, Mayers served as DSU Athletic Director from 2013-18.

At the induction ceremony, Mayers had a lot of his family and friends and many of his former swimmers there to support him.

Mayers said he is blessed to be inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

“It’s been a great weekend,” Mayers said. “It’s exciting to be in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. The purpose of the hall of fame is to tell your story, and I’m excited the story I’ve been able to write over many years has come to today.

“I’ve already got some of my swimmers here that I’ve coached over the years. It’s been a great life, and I’m really excited.”