Internal investigation announced into the handling of Lauren Smith-Fields case

The mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut has announced there will be an internal investigation into the police department’s handling of Lauren Smith-Fields death case.

Internal investigation into Lauren Smith-Fields death case

“There is no tolerance for anything less than respect and sensitivity for family members and their loss,” Mayor Joe Ganim said in a statement. “To that end, this matter has been referred to the Office of Internal Affairs to conduct a full and fair investigation.”

The announcement comes after Smith-Fields family claims racial insensitivity by the Bridgeport police department and announced their plans to sue.

Mysterious Death

Smith-Fields, 23, was found dead on December 12th in her bed following a date with an older white man she met on the dating app Bumble.

Smith-Fields mother, Shantell Fields, said she went to her daughter’s apartment when she couldn’t reach her. When she arrived, there was a note on the door.

“When I got there, there was a note on the door saying, ‘If you’re looking for Lauren, call this number,'” she told CBS News.

She called and no one answered.

Days later, she finally received a call from a detective. The detective informed the family Smith-Fields was found dead a day and a half earlier, but they failed to reach out to her family.

When Smith-Fields’ family questioned the police about their failure to notify her next of kin, Lauren’s brother, Tavar Gray-Smith, told “CBS Mornings” that the detective told them, “We didn’t need to reach out to any family member – we had her passport and her ID, so we knew who she was, and had already performed an autopsy, and her body is at the medical examiner’s office.”

Gray-Smith also said that the detective hung up on him and Smith-Fields’ father.

The detective has since been removed from the case, the family said.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg.

The police department took nearly a month to investigate after social media pressure.

Smith-Fields’ family claims there are inconsistencies in the police report and police mishandled the case, leaving key items at the scene — like the cups she and the man had been drinking out of, bloody sheets, and a bottle of pills found near her bed — from her apartment unexamined.

The police also failed to detain the man Smith-Fields was with when she was found deceased.

The man Lauren Smith-Fields was with upon her death

The man Smith-Fields was with has been identified as Matthew LaFountain. In a police report obtained by Rolling Stone, LaFountain said he woke up next to Smith-Fields the morning following their date and called the police when he found her unresponsive, with blood coming out of her nose. He told police he observed some peculiar behavior during their date, including Smith-Fields going into the bathroom to vomit and going outside her apartment for several minutes to see her brother. LaFountain later told an officer “he thought it was odd, but didn’t feel it was his place to say anything as he didn’t know her that well”.

Smith-Fields brother told NBC Connecticut when he questioned the police about LaFountain, they told him he was not a suspect.

“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,” her brother Lakeem Jetter said.

Cause of death

On Monday, the medical examiner’s office said Smith-Fields died of “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine, and alcohol,” and ruled her death an accident.

Updated policies

Mayor Ganim also announced Monday that Bridgeport will be updating its policies on family death notifications.

“Death notifications should be done in a manner that illustrates dignity for the deceased and respect and compassion for the family,” he said. “Therefore, I will work with the Chief of Police to make appropriate changes here in Bridgeport to our department’s policies and practices regarding notifying family members of a death. I support and add my voice to the family, community, and elected officials who are calling for state legislation on this issue.”

Path forward

In an interview with Roland Martin Unfiltered, Smith-Fields family lawyer Darnell Crosland said the family intends to sue.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds as they plan to hire a private investigator to look into Smith-Fields’ death.