Lauren Smith-Fields

This week we veered a bit from our usual coverage of a missing woman of color, and instead decided to use our time to bring awareness to the death of Lauren Smith-Fields.

Lauren was a beautiful, vibrant, 23 year old student who was found dead in her apartment on December 12, 2021. Lauren had been on a bumble date with Matthew Lafountain, 37, the night before. Despite the fact that there are many inconsistencies in his story and his timeline of her death, he was never detained for questioning or treated as a person of interest.

Detectives reportedly told her brother not to worry, because “he’s a nice guy.” Her death was ruled an accidental overdose, despite no known history of drug use. Her apartment was not treated as a crime scene. Lauren’s family wasn’t even notified of her death, and had to find a note on her apartment door directing them to call the detective to find out what happened to her. ⁣

In this week’s episode we discuss some of the evidence that was missed, and the actions her family are taking to try and hold the Bridgeport police department accountable. Her case brings to light the stark differences between how her death was handled compared to young white women- as her family’s lawyer explained “when a white woman goes missing, the whole world drops everything. We are done with this valuation.”