Photo Courtesy of Lauren Smith-Fields/ Instagram
Bridgeport Police Department is now probing into the tragic and questionable death of Lauren Smith-Fields, 23, after a coroner ruled she died from an overdose of alcohol, fentanyl, promethazine and hydroxyzine on December 12.
CNN reported that authorities divulged that the Bridgeport Police Department’s narcotics division and vice have launched an investigation into Smith-Field’s death. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will also assist in the inquiry.
Interim Chief Rebeca Garcia released a statement regarding the shady circumstances. The head of the department said that investigators will look into “the factors that led to her untimely death.”
“Fentanyl is a strong narcotic associated with an epidemic of opioid-related overdose deaths in the United States,” a department spokesperson said. “The City of Bridgeport is not immune to this epidemic.”
On January 25, the medical examiner’s determination in Smith-Field’s cause of death being an “accidental overdose” raised more doubt with the influencer’s family. The young woman’s parents and brother have been vocal about their disgust with the department’s lackadaisical approach to their loved one’s case.
The family’s attorney, Darnell Crosland, told CNN, “The M.E. findings doesn’t cure any of the Bridgeport’s lack of process; in (fact) it makes it worse. Instead, we are left with more questions than answers as a result of a botched investigation or lack thereof.”
The impassioned attorney also referenced the difference in the initiatives taken when Gabby Petito, a young, white woman, was missing and found murdered by her lover last year.
“It’s happening all too often with Black girls missing across this world, across this country, and no one says anything,” he said. “When a white woman goes missing, the whole world drops everything. We are done with this valuation.”
Crosland added, “We’re suing the city of Bridgeport for failure to prosecute and failure to protect this family under the 14th Amendment.”
Smith-Fields was found unresponsive in her Connecticut apartment. Matthew LaFountain, a 37-year-old engineer she met on the Bumble dating app, called police and reported the 23-year-old’s condition. Authorities arrived on the scene. Smith-Field’s later died, and police never bothered to investigate the scene or properly collect evidence, according to her family.
LaFountain was never questioned or viewed as a suspect. Smith-Fields’ family plans to file a lawsuit against the city of Bridgeport, including detectives who initially worked on the case along with Mayor Joseph Ganim and Chief Garcia.
Police have not confirmed if LaFountain is a suspect.