The Case of Lauren Smith-Fields

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 Before I start the blog post I just want to give a quick content warning for death and sexual assault.

    For my blog post I want to talk about the recent tragic death of Lauren Smith-Fields, a 23-year-old black woman who was found dead in her apartment after going on a date with a white man she met on a dating app. Despite the fact that the man, Matthew LaFountain, was the last person to see her alive and called the police to report her death, he was never questioned or arrested by police. The police also did not contact her family, and ignored several pieces of evidence found at her apartment, like a sedative pill and a used condom.

    When the Bridgeport Police Department was asked if they would investigate LaFountain's involvement in Lauren's death, they said, "No, he seems like a great guy." The Bridgeport Police even hung up on Lauren's family multiple times and told them to stop calling. On what would be Lauren's 24th birthday, her family and many supporters gathered to protest the police's treatment of the case.

    This case is unfortunately one of the many examples of black women not being given the investigation and recognition they deserve. It is heartbreaking that Lauren's family had to go through so much to get the police to look into the case at all. When you compare the news coverage and police resources put into this case versus the case of Gabby Pieto, the double standard becomes very clear. A third of U.S. women who are reported missing are black. This kind of injustice cannot continue.



More information about Lauren Smith-Fields' Death

Gofundme created by Lauren's family to pay for their own investigator

Comments

  1. Luca ZepedaMarch 26, 2022 at 2:56 PM

    This is such an interesting and sentimental story. I am glad you shared this. It really highlights how race unfortunately plays such a big part in the judicial system. Lauren is just one of the many black people in the U.S. that go through similar unfair cases with the court system and I am saddened to see that this is how the law is "enforced". Lauren and her family deserve so much more.

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