Lauren Smith-Fields’ family credits Cardi B with helping her case get more public attention and ultimately pushing police to launch a criminal investigation, TMZ reports.
The outlet spoke with Darnell Crosland, the attorney representing the woman’s family, on Thursday (Jan. 27). Crosland told the site Cardi was instrumental in putting pressure on the Bridgeport Police Department to investigate Smith-Fields’ death.
As reported by REVOLT, the Bronx-born rapper informed her 21.4 million Twitter followers about the Connecticut case on Sunday (Jan. 23), tweeting, “This is sooo scary!!! A fictional murderer character but in real life!! Justice for Lauren. Connecticut you have failed that young lady!!!”
The next day (Jan. 24), Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim opened an internal investigation into the police department over its handling of the case. On Tuesday (Jan. 25), police launched an official criminal probe into the woman’s death.
As reported by REVOLT, the Connecticut chief medical examiner previously ruled Smith-Fields’ death an accident and said she died from “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine and alcohol.”
The woman’s family has questioned this and announced their intention to file a lawsuit over the Bridgeport police’s handling of the case. On Wednesday (Jan. 26), attorney Crosland claimed the man who saw Smith-Fields last, Matthew LaFountain, has a “huge connection” to local police, leading him and the woman’s family to believe there is a “cover-up.”
As reported, Smith-Fields (a 23-year-old Black woman) was found dead in her apartment on the morning of Dec. 12 after going on a date with LaFountain, a 37-year-old white man she met through Bumble. LaFountain told police they met at her apartment, took shots and that Smith-Fields fell ill. Later on, the pair ate some food, played games and LaFountain said he carried a sleeping Smith-Fields to bed, where he fell asleep next to her. The following morning, LaFountain said he found Smith-Fields not breathing and with blood coming out of her nose, so he called 911.
Besides being frustrated that it took over a month to launch a criminal investigation, Smith-Fields’ family has also accused the police department of being “racially insensitive.”
“If he was Black and she was white, a white 23-year-old female is dead with blood and a condom in the bathroom, oh boy, we’d still be at the police station right now,” Crosland told the Atlanta Black Star.