Exclusive: Interview with Mother and Brother of Lauren Smith-Fields Amid News of Homicide Investigation

Over 1,350 people have died from drug overdoses in the state of Connecticut in 2021, according to data collected from the state. That data also says fentanyl was the main cause for overdose.

Smith-Fields’ family maintains Lauren had no history of drug use. Further, when the case made it to CourtTV, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan, who was also an expert correspondent during the George Floyd trial, was brought in to speak about the combination of drugs in her system.

“We’re talking about a 23-year-old young lady here,” he said. “This is not somebody who would have had time to develop these dependencies that are multilayered drugs that we’d see later on in life. I think there are some hard scientific questions that need to be asked in addition to the investigative questions.”

Of the drug allegations, Crosland said “I think they thought we were going to shut up, and lose faith in Lauren and think she was just a drug addict. But people didn’t run away, they doubled-down.”

The day she was pronounced dead, the police confiscated Lauren’s cell phone, a passport, keys, a credit card, and a little over $1,300 in cash. Lauren had been pronounced dead at around 6:49 a.m.

The night before her death, she’d met 37-year-old Matthew LaFountain, a white male she’d become acquainted with through the mobile dating app Bumble. He is believed to have been the last person to see her alive. Medics said Lauren had been dead for at least an hour prior to LaFountain calling 9-1-1 according to the police report. LaFountain’s name was redacted from the initial report.

Peter Karayiannis has confirmed with the CT Post that he’s representing Matthew LaFountain—though he says his client will not be making any formal statements. According to the Post, “Karayiannis said his client has not ruled out taking legal action of his own. “It’s still too early to tell in regards to that,” the lawyer said.”

Earlier in the week, Crosland alleged a possible connection between Cronin and LaFountain during an interview with Atlanta Black Star.

According to Crosland, “They’ve been tight lipped about his involvement, but we’ve been finding out on social media that LaFountain, the individual who was with Lauren, has a huge connection with the police department and his family does as well,” further alleging, “Cronin has intentionally or negligently created a cover-up for the responsible party in Lauren’s death,” stopping short of blaming LaFountain for Smith-Fields’ sudden death.”

Lauren’s family was told by the landlord that someone knocked on the door that night, around the time she was said to have actually died, “the landlord said he got a knock on the door at 5:30 and he didn’t answer because it was too late. The 9-1-1 call was at 6:30 a.m., so who came and knocked on the door at 5:30?” Lakeem asked.

To the family’s knowledge, this has yet to be investigated.

It’s been widely reported that the family was told of Lauren’s death from the landlord who placed a note on the door.

“It was horrifying,” Lakeem said. “When we got there, you could see the terror in the landlord and kids eyes. They didn’t want to tell us she was dead.”

Shantell says that it looks as if Bridgeport doesn’t have a protocol in place when it comes to communicating with Black families. “They’re saying that they didn’t need us. When a person passes away, they have 24 hours to reach out by phone or knock on door.”

Officer Kevin Cronin was removed from the case after alleged misconduct, pending an ongoing investigation with internal affairs. As of today, the Fields family has not seen Officer Cronin in person but their interaction with him—which has been exclusively over the phone, has been enough to get him removed from the case and placed on administrative leave.

Crosland alleged on Wednesday, the possibility of inappropriate relationships within the precinct. “The acting police chief was a longtime live in girlfriend of the head of internal affairs, we have a lot to outline the incestuous corrupt and disorganized space here.”

Shantell and Lakeem remember walking into the police precinct and being treated as “suspects,” they said. Where they thought they would have been meeting in a regular room used for non-criminals or persons of interest, they were instead put in a tiny interrogation room.

When the family walked into the precinct, Shantell says the entire room stopped. Everyone looked up, “and they gave us dirty looks.” Lakeem added, “It was scary! They were yelling at our lawyer, telling him to shut up and grabbing their guns.”

The family were told they were there to have a meeting with the police officers involved with the case.

“They didn’t want to answer any questions about the case,” Shantell said.

It was announced on Tuesday that the case would become a homicide investigation, led by the Bridgeport Police.

The family has lost confidence in the Bridgeport Police as they’ve expressed consistently. “It’s more smoke and mirrors,” Lakeem said. “They just want it to go away,” Shantell added.

Crosland plans to get the Department of Justice involved. “We are sending a letter to the DOJ in DC and ask tat a case manager be assigned to this case and come with a team. We need help from an outside agency to oversee this, because we don’t have confidence that they can do this on their own,” he said.

A study conducted by criminologist Zach Sommers in 2016, deals directly with Missing White Woman Syndrome—a term originally coined by news correspondent Gwen Ifill. Sommers told CNN “As a culture we are readily willing to accept stories about White folks as victims as something we should care about.” He added, “When we see a White person who has gone missing, we say that could be my daughter, neighbor or cousin or friend… and they identify with that person and are more likely to read the story than we would if it were a person of color.”