标签： North America

More than a month after 29-year-old Tasia Fortune’s body was discovered hanging from a tree on the property of an abandoned Jackson, Mississippi home, her grieving family and a restless local community are still pushing for transparent information from law enforcement and state officials.

Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, who resides in Kentucky, told the BBC she is consumed by frustration over repeated delays and a lack of communication from investigating officers. Spivey last saw her daughter alive at a family reunion in late July, when Fortune mentioned she was considering moving back home to be closer to her family. When Spivey was finally called to identify her daughter’s remains at a funeral home ahead of burial, she was too devastated to look directly at the body, only glancing at it from the corner of her eye. She ultimately chose burial over cremation, holding out faint hope that new investigation findings could one day require an exhumation for further testing.

For weeks after the 3 August discovery of Fortune’s body, police offered no public updates on the case, and Spivey says her repeated requests for information about the investigation’s progress went completely unanswered. That changed only this Tuesday, when Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney confirmed for the first time that the department has treated Fortune’s death as a potential homicide from the first day of the probe, as investigators wait for formal autopsy results from the state medical examiner’s office. Brackney explained to the BBC that labeling all pending death investigations as potential homicides is standard policy to preserve critical evidence before an official cause of death is confirmed; prior to Tuesday’s announcement, the department had only described the matter as a general death investigation. The medical examiner’s office has declined to comment on the active case.

Anxiety over the case has spread rapidly across majority-Black Jackson, amplified by Mississippi’s long, brutal history of racial terror lynchings against Black Americans. Fortune’s death marks the third incident in less than a year where a body was found hanging from a tree in the state. In September 2025, two bodies — one a Black man, the other a white man — were discovered on the same day. Both were officially ruled suicides, but the mother of the Black victim, Trey Reed, continues to dispute that finding.

The prolonged lack of clarity has fueled widespread distrust in local and state authorities. Two online petitions have gained tens of thousands of signatures: one calls for an independent investigation into the office of Mississippi’s chief medical examiner Dr. Staci Turner, who has overseen the recent string of cases involving Black decedents, while the other demands the FBI launch a federal probe into Fortune’s death. The BBC has requested comment from Dr. Turner but has not yet received a response.

Local leaders have echoed the community’s calls for urgent action. Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes told the BBC he has visited the neighborhood where Fortune reportedly lived multiple times and has never seen police officers conducting investigative work at the site. “All cases are important, but this one — a hanging in Mississippi — should rise to the top of the priority list,” Stokes said. He sent formal requests for assistance weeks ago to federal prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Mississippi and to the FBI, but has yet to receive any reply from either agency. “Nothing from nobody. It’s like nobody cares,” Stokes added. The BBC has also contacted both federal offices for comment with no response as of press time.

U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett has formally requested federal intervention, sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice asking for a full investigation into the recent string of Mississippi deaths, including Fortune’s, labeling them potential “modern-day lynchings” and referencing the state’s well-documented history of anti-Black violent terrorism. The DOJ has not yet responded to requests for comment on the request. Notably, Mississippi is not alone: this year alone, four Black Americans have been found hanged from trees in North Carolina, three of which have been ruled suicides with an autopsy still pending for the fourth.

While Stokes stresses he has not concluded whether Fortune’s death was a racially motivated lynching, he says the only thing that matters to him and the community is getting clear, accurate answers. For young Black residents including Brandon King, president of the Jackson State University student chapter of the NAACP, the uncertainty has created a pervasive climate of fear. “This is supposed to be the state capital. This is where I’m supposed to feel the most safe,” King told the BBC. “Right now, the feeling is that you could be next. This is in your own backyard.”

For Spivey, the anger and grief remain raw. “What is the hold up?” she asked, echoing the question that has gone unanswered for more than a month for her family and thousands of others demanding accountability.

In a rare public comment following the high-profile proceedings in the Lindsay Clancy trial, one sitting juror has broken silence to shed new light on the closed-door deliberations that shaped the case’s outcome. The juror, who chose to speak on condition of anonymity to protect their privacy amid intense public scrutiny of the trial, opened up about the tense dynamics that unfolded inside the jury room during days of closed discussions.

According to the juror’s account, the 12-member panel included a handful of what they described as “big personalities” – individuals who were unafraid to voice strong, unwavering opinions and push back heavily against perspectives that clashed with their own. Despite the charged atmosphere and strong convictions held by most jurors, the panel ultimately maintained enough respect for differing views to avoid rushing a decision. Most notably, the juror confirmed that one panel member stood alone as a holdout on the verdict, refusing to align with the majority position even as discussions stretched on.

In a striking twist to the behind-the-scenes account, the speaking juror emphasized that the majority of the panel defended the lone holdout’s right to hold a dissenting opinion. Rather than pressuring the outlier to abandon their position or rush a compromise, jurors acknowledged the importance of allowing every panel member to weigh in fully and stand by their conclusions, even when that meant extended deliberations. The comments offer an unprecedented look into how jury dynamics function in high-emotion, publicized criminal cases, highlighting the tensions between majority consensus and individual conviction that are core to the U.S. jury trial system.

A high-profile criminal case centered on rising singer David Anthony Burke, professionally known as D4vd, has taken new turns as the family of his alleged 14-year-old victim pushes for the ultimate punishment and moves forward with a parallel civil lawsuit.

The case first emerged in September 2025, when the dismembered remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez were discovered inside the trunk of a Tesla vehicle registered to an address linked to Burke. The 14-year-old’s killing has shaken Southern California and drawn nationwide media attention, as the defendant built a growing career in the music industry before his arrest.

Hernandez’s family has made clear their stance in recent public statements: if a jury finds Burke guilty of murder, they are calling for him to receive the death penalty. California has held a temporary moratorium on executions for years, but that has not dimmed the family’s demand for the harshest possible sentence. In a statement released Monday, September 2026, which would have marked Hernandez’s 16th birthday, the family described Burke as a remorseless person who inflicted unfathomable pain on their family and their daughter. “If the death penalty were activated, it would be perfect for this kind of human being, devoid of feelings and emptiness inside, and without conscience, who only caused pain to our daughter, our family, and the world that supports our precious daughter,” the statement read, released via the family’s legal team.

Alongside their call for capital punishment in the criminal case, Hernandez’s parents, Mercedes Martinez and Jesus Rivas, have filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Burke in Los Angeles Superior Court. The court filing mirrors many of the claims laid out by prosecutors in the ongoing criminal matter, adding additional allegations against the singer’s professional and personal circle.

The suit lays out a timeline of the pair’s relationship, alleging the two first connected in November 2023, when Hernandez was just 13 years old. Over the following 16 months, the parents claim, the pair exchanged nearly 10,000 text messages and engaged in repeated sexual encounters. The court documents argue that Burke, a full-grown adult at the time, held inappropriate power and influence over the minor victim, isolating her from outside support. According to the allegations, Burke killed Hernandez at his Hollywood Hills residence after she threatened to expose their secret relationship, sending him a message that read, “I will end ur career and ur life.” The suit brings claims of wrongful death, false imprisonment, and childhood sexual assault, and seeks financial compensation to cover the victim’s burial and funeral costs, among other damages.

Notably, the civil suit does not name only Burke as a defendant. It also names several of the singer’s business entities, his managers, his mother, and his live-in security guard, alleging that these individuals enabled Burke’s actions, helped isolate Hernandez, and facilitated the conditions that allowed the abuse and killing to occur. Representatives for Burke’s management firm Mogul Vision and his finance manager have previously stated they had no knowledge of the relationship between Burke and Hernandez, according to reporting from the Los Angeles Times.

The criminal case against Burke has already cleared a major procedural hurdle. Back in July 2026, a judge ruled that there was sufficient probable cause for the case to move forward to a criminal trial on the murder charge. At that time, district attorney officials confirmed they were still weighing whether to formally pursue a death sentence in the case.

In recent weeks, Burke has made changes to his legal team. He has split from his high-profile celebrity defense attorney and is now represented by a public defender, with the case scheduled for a next court hearing on October 19, 2026. The full criminal trial has been pushed back to 2027. Burke has entered a formal plea of not guilty to all criminal charges against him.

Deputy public defender Walid Kandeel, Burke’s current legal representative, noted that Burke has the right to a vigorous defense that carefully examines all evidence and takes his specific circumstances into account. “We are committed to providing him with that defence,” Kandeel said. His office has not yet issued any formal comment in response to the newly filed civil lawsuit.

A sudden geological collapse has disrupted a prime stretch of Malibu coastline, after a sinkhole opened up and swallowed most of the driveway leading to a beachfront home widely reported to belong to Hollywood star Nicolas Cage. Local law enforcement and public works officials confirmed the incident unfolded early Tuesday morning, when the pavement under the residential access road gave way without warning, leaving a large, gaping cavity in its place. No injuries have been reported in connection with the collapse, as the sinkhole formed far enough from the main residential structure to avoid immediate damage to the home itself. Coastal geologists note that Malibu’s eroding cliffside and beachfront terrain has long been at heightened risk of sudden ground collapse, particularly as shifting sand and soil under developed properties are weakened by tidal erosion and seasonal weather shifts. Local authorities have cordoned off the area around the sinkhole to prevent trespassing and assess the full extent of the ground instability, with geotechnical teams expected to conduct a full site survey this week to determine next steps for repairs and mitigation. As of Wednesday, representatives for Cage have not yet issued a public comment confirming ownership of the property or addressing the impact of the sinkhole collapse.

A massive 30-foot by 30-foot sinkhole has swallowed the driveway of a Malibu property owned by Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage, marking one of the most visible aftermaths of Tropical Storm Marie’s destructive pass along Southern California’s coastline.

Local eyewitness accounts reveal that the ground began showing signs of instability as early as Monday, when an 8-foot depression was first spotted on the property. Nearby residents told local media that at the initial stage, the property’s owners did not view the issue as overly serious, anticipating a quick, straightforward repair. But that mild concern quickly escalated into a full-scale emergency when the ground gave way entirely in the early hours of Tuesday, expanding the small depression into a gaping 30-foot crater that engulfed most of the paved driveway.

The collapse triggered an emergency response after a gas line was damaged in the shift. First responders arrived quickly to contain the incident, and Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) later confirmed that the leak had been fully secured. No injuries have been reported from the incident, according to initial official reports.

The sinkhole, which sits on a coastal stretch of Malibu, has already been impacted by ongoing coastal erosion: AFP reporters on the scene noted that ocean waves now lap directly into the crater, flowing in and out beneath the support stanchions that hold up the hillside home. Traffic control cones have been placed around the unstable site to keep bystanders away.

The damage comes on the heels of days of heavy rain and powerful high surf driven by Tropical Storm Marie, which weakened from hurricane status as it moved along the Southern California coast. Though the storm remained well offshore, it still dumped significant rainfall and sent damaging waves pounding against erodible coastal bluffs in Malibu. Local city officials have since declared at least five homes on the same street unsafe for occupancy, warning that the widespread ground collapse has severely restricted emergency access and left large sections of the roadway impassable.

The property, purchased by Cage in 2024 shortly after the original sale was finalized, per reporting from the *New York Times*, is one of the actor’s Southern California residences. Cage, a 1996 Academy Award winner for his leading role in *Leaving Las Vegas*, is renowned for his decades-long career spanning iconic films including *Face/Off*, *Gone in 60 Seconds*, *Con Air*, and more recent critically acclaimed projects like *Pig* and *The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent*. The BBC has reached out to Cage’s representatives for additional comment on the incident, and no statement has been released as of yet.