A man accused of murder in connection with the hanging of a Black woman in Mississippi entered a plea of not guilty on Monday during his initial court appearance.

The body of Tasia Fortune, 29, was discovered suspended from a tree behind a derelict residence in Jackson, the state capital, on Aug. 3.

On Friday, police arrested 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff, who is also Black, on a murder charge, after the state medical examiner determined her death to be a homicide.

At Monday's brief hearing in Municipal Court, a judge denied bond for Ratliff, who told the court that he was not guilty.

Ratliff's attorney at the hearing departed the courthouse without speaking to reporters.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This narrative contains references to suicide.

Should you or someone you are acquainted with require assistance, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. can be reached by calling or texting 988.

The case has attracted widespread attention because the manner of Fortune's death recalled lynchings in the Southern state, which has a tumultuous civil rights history stained by episodes of racial violence.

Law enforcement authorities and prosecutors have neither disclosed a suspected motive nor indicated whether they believe race was a contributing factor.

Police Chief RaShall Brackney stated on Friday that Ratliff, 51, had an “association” with Fortune, though she declined to elaborate.

She further indicated that additional arrests are anticipated in the case.

Prosecutors on Monday offered few new details in court, though they said Fortune had been hanged with a “black cable cord” and that Ratliff had tried to hide from officers in a vehicle the day of his arrest.

Brackney and the other police officials who were present at Ratliff's hearing on Monday declined to comment afterward.

A Kentucky native, Fortune was born to a Black father and a white mother, yet she identified as Black, according to Christy Spivey, the deceased woman’s mother.

Relatives report that Fortune had resided in Jackson for approximately a decade.

Spivey stated that Fortune had four children, adding that she seldom saw two of her grandchildren.

Spivey was uncertain of Fortune’s place of residence at the time of her death, but she noted that her daughter had grappled with homelessness in recent years.

She mentioned that Fortune had recently spoken of launching a cleaning business and had been endeavouring to put her life in order.

Two additional hanging deaths in Mississippi over the preceding year — those of a Black student at Delta State University and a homeless white man in Vicksburg — likewise attracted widespread attention.

Both deaths were ruled suicides.