The family of Lauren Smith-Fields want answers after the 23-year-old was found DEAD in her apartment following a date with a white man she met via online dating site, Bumble. The family is suing the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut for the mishandling of the crime scene investigation and said police have been “racially insensitive” towards them.
Shocking details inside…
A family in Bridgeport, Connecticut is heartbroken and wants answer after the death of their loved one, 23-year-old Lauren Smith-Fields. They are now suing police and demanding an independent investigation into her death.
According to reports, the young, black woman - a student at Norwalk Community College - was found dead inside her apartment on December 12th after a date with a white man. Her cause of death is still unknown.
While some reports have described her date as an “older white man,” he’s actually a 37-year-old man who works as a design engineer at Connecticut-based Times Microwave System, which is a company which manufactures cables for the military, aerospace and telecommunications companies. As of now, he has not been charged, so we are not naming him. According to the family’s attorney, Darnell Crosland, Lauren met the man on the dating app, Bumble.
According to the police report (obtained by Daily Mail), Lauren and the man were hanging out drinking the night before she died. She asked him for $40 to get her nails done and then to meet up at her apartment where they took “shots of tequila.”
The man told police Lauren became ill and threw up in the bathroom before she came back and they continued to drink tequila and mixed drinks. He claims they drank, played games and ate before she received a text, went outside to get something from her brother and returned. He said she went into the bathroom for 10-15 minutes.
Upon returning from the bathroom, he claims they continued to watch a movie and finished the bottle of tequila before she fell asleep on the couch. He said he carried her to the bedroom and they went to bed. Around 3am he said he woke up to use the restroom and Lauren was snoring. When 6:30am rolled around, he said he woke up again and found her lying on her right side with blood coming out of her right nostril, and she was not breathing. He then called 911.
Sadly, it took days for Lauren’s family to be notified about her death as the landlord didn’t have family contact information. It wasn’t until her mother, Shantell Fields, went to Lauren’s apartment that she found out her daughter had passed away.
”The pain is so unbearable," said Lauren's mother. "When I got there, there was a note on the door saying, 'If you're looking for Lauren, call this number.'"
"When I asked the officer about the guy, he said he was a very nice guy and they weren't looking into him anymore. It was almost like he was sticking up for him and it seemed weird to hear that from a detective,” Lauren’s brother, Lakeem Jetter,told NBC Connecticut.
“He told me directly on the phone to stop calling him and hung up in my face, it was just like total disrespect, like that's what you tell a family that's going through grief and trying to find answers?”
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Lauren’s brother detailed how neglectful the investigators were when it came to collecting evidence from the scene. There was a large blood stain in the middle of her bed, as well as a used condom, lubricant and an unidentified pill.
”The first night we saw cups there, flipped plates and the lube. The cops didn't take any of the cups to test the liquor,” Lauren’s brother said. “There was a big stain of blood in the middle of her bed, with streaks going to the right side.”
The family’s attorney said the lead detective told the family to stop contacting him, alleging the investigator seems uninterested in pursuing Lauren’s date as a suspect.
”The way they talked to me, the way they have talked to the family, how they treated my daughter, they treated her like she was nobody, like she was not important,” Lauren’s mom said.
The family’s attorney said the investigators are waiting for an autopsy before questioning anyone.
”But there are parts of the investigation that can be done without the autopsy. They can obtain the messages from Bumble. But that's not being done,” he said.
Lauren’s family wants police to investigate her death with the same energy police investigated the death of Gabby Petito - the white woman who disappeared after a road trip with her boyfriend, who was eventually found dead. The family is frustrated with the mishandling of the investigation, and rightfully so.
”We have seen the amount of resources that have gone to other cases involving missing white women like Gabby Petito and we know so many black woman are missing so much in this country,” attorney Darnell Crosland said. “Everyone is speaking out, everyone is insulted with the way the Bridgeport police and the Bridgeport city has dealt with us.”
In a statement to CBS News, Bridgeport Police Acting Chief Rebecca Garcia said there are elements of misinformation being reposted, adding they will release a final comprehensive report at the end of their investigation.
On what would have been her 24th birthday, family and friends marched in her memory on Sunday, Jan.23rd.
“We want answers,” “Protect Black women,” “Save our daughters,” “Bridgeport, step up,” they chanted on the third-of-a-mile journey from Congress Street to the Morton government center.
”A part of my soul died,” said Lauren’s mom. "I will never be the same again. I don't even know how to even move from the next day to the next minute. I am really dead inside."
TRAGIC.
Rapper Cardi B is helping to bring awareness about the case, posting about it to her 21.4 million followers on Twitter:
Naa this man don’t look old and it’s not old at all and yet the media made it seem like she was wit a old ass man lookin to trick on https://t.co/2btR6XvluQ disgusted on how they spin the narrative specially because I see people saying online “that’s wat she gets” pic.twitter.com/JeEwY6tYaY
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) January 23, 2022
This is sooo scary!!!A fictional murderer character but in real life!! Justice for Lauren.Connecticut you have failed that young lady!!! pic.twitter.com/hYce46KfYD
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) January 24, 2022
We pray this family receives the attention to this case that it deserves, as well as justice!
Photo: Lauren's IG
