Jarques Ratliff pleads not guilty to murder in Tasia Fortune's death and is denied bond in Jackson, Mississippi

A suspect in a high-profile homicide case in Jackson, Mississippi, has been formally charged and held without bond, while police state that additional arrests are expected in the ongoing investigation.

• •Jarques Ratliff, 51, appeared in court Monday and pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in connection with the death of Tasia Fortune.
• •Ratliff was denied bond during his court appearance in Jackson Municipal Court.
• •Ratliff's next court appearance is scheduled for September 25.
• •The Jackson Police Department announced the murder charge against Ratliff on Friday after the medical examiner ruled Fortune's death a homicide on Thursday.
• •Police allege in an affidavit that Ratliff used a black cable cord to hang Fortune from a tree outside an abandoned house.
• •Jackson police stated that additional arrests are expected in the ongoing investigation.
• •Police have interviewed nearly 15 people related to the case and executed search warrants at two separate locations.
• •Tasia Fortune was a 29-year-old mother of four children whose body was found by authorities on August 3 in an abandoned home in Jackson.
• •Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes previously wrote a letter to Mississippi US Attorney Baxter Kruger asking for federal assistance in the case.
• •Defense attorney Toney Baldwin stated that the murder charge is a mere accusation and that they look forward to presenting the truth.