Eric Tayce Bond at a glance
- Current role
- Municipal Judge
- Jurisdiction
- Texas · State
- Judicial service
- Active
Eric Tayce Bond
Municipal Judge · Cut and Shoot Municipal Court
Biography
Professional career
Education
Additional information
- Fortune’s body was discovered on August 3, 2026, hanging from a tree behind an abandoned home in west Jackson.
- Clark, 45, turned himself in Friday and was appointed a public defender.
- Police say more arrests are possible.
- Judge Jeffery Reynolds called the killing “an extremely heinous act” that “shocked the community” and “invoked the terrible history of our state”.
- A Mississippi judge has set a $5 million bond for Eric Derrell Clark, 45, the third man charged in the death of Tasia Fortune, a 29‐year‐old Black woman found hanging from a tree in Jackson, Mississippi, in August.
- In summary: Judge Jeffery Reynolds set a $5M bond for Eric Clark in the Tasia Fortune homicide, a staged lynching‐style killing linked to a drug dispute, with two other defendants held without bond and police indicating further arrests are likely.
- He is one of three Black men charged with murder in the case; co‐defendants Jarques Ratliff, 51, and Earnest Lloyd Jr., 25, were denied bond.
- Jackson police later confirmed she was killed in a drug dispute before her body was staged with props to mimic a lynching.
- The scene drew national attention because it evoked the state’s history of racial violence, prompting some calls for a federal civil rights investigation before police clarified the hanging was manufactured.
- He noted that people “justifiably” feared a killer might hang someone for racial reasons.
Applicable Court Rules & Procedures
Remote appearances
Statewide
For the specific fine-and-cost hearings governed by Articles 45A.258 and 45A.259, a justice or municipal judge may allow a defendant to appear by telephone or videoconference when an in-person appearance would impose undue hardship.
If the justice or judge determines that requiring a defendant to appear before the justice or judge in person for a hearing under Article 45A.258 or 45A.259 would impose an undue hardship on the defendant, the justice or judge may allow the defendant to appear by telephone or videoconference.Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 45A.260, Appearance by Telephone or Videoconference ↗
Published courtroom rules
Shared court rules
Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 45A.260, Appearance by Telephone or Videoconference
Cut and Shoot Municipal Court
Scope is limited to the court class in the source claim. Shared court context only; case-type restrictions, exceptions, later amendments and case orders apply. This is not a personal preference or a complete rules inventory.
Official source ↗ · Collected 2026-07-26Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 45A.260, Appearance by Telephone or Videoconference
Cut and Shoot Municipal Court
Scope is limited to the court class in the source claim. Shared court context only; case-type restrictions, exceptions, later amendments and case orders apply. This is not a personal preference or a complete rules inventory.
Official source ↗ · Collected 2026-07-26Sources
Identity source checked July 27, 2026.
Biography sources checked October 10, 2026.
Texas Office of Court Administration official judicial roster
Identity source · HTML · Source checked July 27, 2026
View Texas Office of Court Administration official judicial roster ↗Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 45A.260, Appearance by Telephone or Videoconference
Statewide source · PDF · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 45A.260, Appearance by Telephone or Videoconference ↗Cut and Shoot Municipal Court official directory
Identity source · HTML · Source checked October 11, 2026
View Cut and Shoot Municipal Court official directory ↗