Lawrence Miss Fields, a 23-year-old black woman, was found unresponsive at home by a Bridgeport police officer on December 12, 2021, according to a report of a police case obtained by CNN from a family lawyer. ..
According to police, the man who called the police was a man he met on Bumble’s dating app and was dating the night before.
The family said in a claim notice filed by a lawyer that the Bridgeport Police Department had not properly collected physical evidence from Lauren’s house and refused to consider the man she was dating as a person. I will sue the city of Bridgeport. She is interested. They also claim that the police station was “racist” against their families and violated their civil rights.
The notice of the allegations nominated Mayor of Bridgeport Joseph Ganim, Deputy Police Chief Rebeka Garcia, and the detective involved in the investigation.
CNN asked Bridgeport police for comment, but did not respond.
“The Bridgeport Police Department would like to extend our deepest condolences to Lauren Smith Fields’ family and friends,” said Garcia, who released the final report after receiving an unresolved report, including the final results from the coroner. Said.
In addition, “There are elements of incorrect information being reposted from various sources, but at the end of this investigation we will release a final comprehensive report. Anyone who has the information will be the police. You need to contact us. ”
Lauren Smith-What happened to Fields?
Early in the morning of December 12, 2021, Bridgeport police received a report of an unresponsive woman at home, according to police incident reports. Upon arrival, police said police found Smith-Fields lying on her floor with dry blood flowing in and around her right nostril.
According to police, police also found a “desperate man” who knew Lauren Smith Fields for only three days and identified himself as the person who met her in the dating app Bumble.
The man told police that she had arrived at Smithfields’ residence the night before after she invited him. Reportedly, they were drinking tequila shots when she got sick and went to the bathroom to vomit, the man told police. According to police, after she returned, they continued to drink tequila in a blender, played games, ate food, and started watching movies.
According to Crossland, at some point in the evening, Smithfields’ brother stopped by at her house to collect clothes from her. When she came back, she went to the bathroom for about 15 minutes, the man who met Smith-Fields in Bumble reported to the police.
When Smith-Fields fell asleep on the couch, the man took her to bed and fell asleep next to her, the report said. When he got up early that morning and used the toilet, Smith-Fields said he was snoring, but when he woke up a few hours later, she saw blood bleeding from her nostrils and lying to her right. She says she saw it. Bed urged him to call the police, the report said.
The doctor who arrived at the scene declared her dead, and she was dead for at least an hour, the report said.
CNN contacted the coroner’s office but did not receive a response.
Police reported that police officers collected more than $ 1,300 in cash, passports, credit cards, mobile phones, and several other items as evidence.
Police did not notify the Smithfields family of her death, says Crossland, instead the day after the family visited her home and found a note from the landlord at the door of Smithfields’ apartment. I knew.
“My mom was calling because the Christmas dinner that year was supposed to be at Lauren’s house,” Crossland told CNN. “They drove over there and found a note from the landlord. If anyone is looking for Lauren, call me. The police didn’t try to reach out to her family. They took her body out of the house. ”
Crossland described the detectives assigned to the case as negative and called them “rude.” He called the police for an answer to Smithfields’ death and said the detective had treated his family badly when he met.
Family says they fight for justice
In a statement, Mayor Ganim acknowledged the “unanswered questions and concerns” surrounding Smithfields’ death and shared that he referred the issue to the Interior Ministry to carry out a complete investigation.
“There is no tolerance other than respect and sensitivity to the family and their loss,” Ganim said in a statement. “I share many reverberant concerns about when and how families are informed of loss. Death notices should be given in a way that demonstrates the dignity of the deceased and the respect and compassion of the family. ”
Mr. Ganim also said he worked with the police chief to amend the ministry’s policy of notifying family members of the death and contacted the state coroner’s office to expedite the matter.
When the family examined Smithfields’ home after learning of her death, Crossland found that they had used condoms, sedative pills, blood-stained sheets, flipped food plates, and alcohol. Claims to have found the bottle.
“You will definitely want to get a sheet, a condom, you will want to take a picture of the flipped plate,” Crossland said. “After forcing them to collect it on December 29, I called the state forensic laboratory, and the woman who replied said the police did not submit.”
Crossland also says that a detective who called Smith-Fields Bumble Date a “good guy” to her brother told him not to “jump into any inclusions.”
Bumble, a dating app, confirmed to CNN that they were in contact with law enforcement agencies.
In a statement shared with the CNN, Bumble said he was deeply saddened by the news of Smithfields’ death and sought help from his family.
“Physical and emotional safety in our community is paramount,” the statement read. “We will investigate member complaints and take prompt and decisive action against members who do not meet our standards. We will provide appropriate support at the request of law enforcement agencies. Ready to provide information.
They said the Crossland and Smith-Fields families were ready to fight for justice.
“We won’t stop until we get justice for Lauren and the thousands of black girls missing in the country each year,” Crossland said in a statement shared with CNN. “We have equal rights and justice to them, regardless of race. We will not stop fighting until we have it.”
CNN’s Laura Dolan contributed to this report.
