On December 12, 2021, twenty-three-year-old Lauren Smith-Fields was found dead in her Bridgeport, Connecticut apartment — hours after a first date with a man she had met on Bumble just three days earlier.

Her family didn't get a phone call. They learned Lauren was gone two days later, from a note taped to her apartment door, when they arrived expecting Christmas dinner at her place.What followed was a public reckoning over how Bridgeport Police handled her death — allegations of uncollected evidence, a detective who reportedly told the family there was no need to investigate the man who was with her, and two officers suspended and later reinstated. It sparked a new Connecticut law, national attention from figures like Cardi B, and a federal civil rights lawsuit that was dismissed in February 2025 — with a proposed settlement still moving through Bridgeport's city council as of this recording.

In this episode we cover:

• December 12, 2021 — Lauren Smith-Fields, 23, found dead in her Bridgeport apartment after a first Bumble date
• Cause of death ruled accidental: acute intoxication from fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine, and alcohol
• Lauren's family says Bridgeport Police never called them — they learned of her death from a note taped to her apartment door
• Family alleges key evidence, including a pill and a condom, wasn't collected and processed for two weeks
• The man who was with her that night was never seriously investigated as a person of interest, according to the family
• Detectives Kevin Cronin and Angel Llanos were suspended, then reinstated on appeal
• A new Connecticut law now requires police to notify families within 24 hours of a loved one's death
• 2023 — Lauren's mother files a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Bridgeport
• February 2025 — a federal judge dismisses the civil rights claims, ruling race was not shown to be a factor
• A proposed $30,000 settlement is still moving through Bridgeport's city council as of this recording

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