On December 12th, 2021, Lauren Smith-Fields was found unconscious in her Connecticut apartment after a Bumble date with a man named Matthew LaFountain. LaFountain placed the 911 call and reported that, “she was lying on her right side, blood was coming out of her right nostril onto the bed, and she was not breathing”. When emergency responders arrived on the scene, she was pronounced dead. Smith-Fields, 23, was reported to have died from “an overdose of Fentanyl combined with prescription medication and alcohol.”. This led to her death being ruled as an accident.
Shantell Fields, her mother, has been vocal about getting justice for her daughter’s abrupt death. Her movement, #justiceforlauren, has amassed over 6.5 million views on TikTok and continues to get over 1,000 tweets/retweets daily for a deeper investigation of the case. Her family nearly begged for investigation on her case but had been told that they shouldn’t worry because LaFountain had been “a really nice guy.”
Smith-Fields was a student at Norwalk Community College studying to become a physical therapist. With her sudden absence in her close family and friends’ life, she has been a reminder of the neglect of investigation in Black female cases. Many small creators and social media pages have reached out to help the cause and still no major coverage for her case.
This is yet another instance of the police system failing to do its job and help families achieve justice for their loved ones. Help this case gain coverage by using your platforms and signing petitions online.
You can start here! https://www.change.org/p/bridgeport-police-department-justice-for-lauren-smith-fields
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