Lauren Smith-Fields’ death during date ruled accidental — but family disputes findings
New York Post
Januaey 25, 2022
Shantell
Fields, Lauren Smith-Fields’ mother, stands with family members during a
protest rally in front of the Morton Government Center in Bridgeport,
Conn., on Jan. 23, 2022
The death of a Connecticut woman who passed away during a date last month was ruled an accidental drug overdose — but her family disputed state officials’ findings, saying she never used narcotics.
Lauren Smith-Fields was killed by “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine and alcohol,” Connecticut’s chief medical examiner said Tuesday, adding they found no foul play.
Darnell Crosland, an attorney for the Bridgeport woman’s family, however, said the family believes there was not enough of an investigation done to see if someone was to blame for slipping her the toxic cocktail.
“I’ve never seen a medical examiner conclude a mixer of drugs as an accident without knowing who provided the drugs, or how it was ingested,” he said in a post on Twitter.
Lauren Smith-Fields’ death during a date was ruled an accidental drug overdose
“Lauren didn’t use drugs,” he added.
The back-and-forth is the latest piece in the mysterious death of Smith-Fields, a 23-year-old black woman who was found in her Bridgeport apartment after her Dec. 11 date, when the man she was seeing called police and reported her as being unresponsive.
Her family has accused the Bridgeport police department of racial insensitivity and a lack of responsiveness in its investigation into Smith-Fields’ death, according to an Associated Press report.
“The M.E. findings doesn’t cure any of Bridgeport Police Department lack of process, in fact it makes it worse,” Crosland said in a statement Tuesday. “As a result of a botched investigation this morning we are left with more questions than answers.”
Smith-Fields died while on a date, and her family has pushed back on the official cause of death
The man, who has not been identified, reportedly told police that the two spent the night drinking, playing games and watching a movie, before Smith-Fields felt ill and went to bed.
The man said when he awoke early the next morning, Smith-Fields was bleeding from her nose and wasn’t breathing.
Smith-Fields’ family said police failed to notify them of her death, which they only learned about a day later from Smith-Fields’ landlord.
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