The families of two Black women who died in December addressed Bridgeport鈥檚 Board of Police Commissioners Tuesday night, calling for acting Police Chief Rebeca Garcia to step down and for Mayor Joe Ganim to request that the U.S. Department of Justice 鈥渢ake over鈥� their case.
The commissioners began the meeting by immediately going into closed-door executive session for nearly an hour. When they returned, they opened the floor to comments from both women鈥檚 families, including the Smith-Fields family鈥檚 attorney, Darnell Crosland.
Everyone who spoke criticized what they described as the police鈥檚 failure to track down the two women鈥檚 next-of-kin to notify them of their deaths, and failure to open a criminal investigation. Crosland argued that both cases should have started out as criminal investigations by default and that the male acquaintances who called in each death should have been treated as suspects.
Smith Fields鈥� relatives said the detective at the scene of her death (who they say is Garcia鈥檚 nephew) brushed off their questions about the man, saying he was 鈥渁 nice guy.鈥�
鈥淵ou let the guy just walk away because he was 鈥榓 very good guy.鈥� Why?鈥� said Shantell Fields, Lauren鈥檚 mother, summing up police response. 鈥淚f he was Black ,he鈥檇 still be in jail right now. But because he鈥檚 a 鈥榲ery good white guy,鈥� he got to go home to his family, while my daughter laid there dead.鈥�
鈥淚f Lauren was a Caucasian blond-haired girl, y鈥檃ll would scour the earth to find out what happened to her. But she is a regular Black woman, so they consider her as garbage,鈥� Fields said. 鈥淎nd if the white guy was found dead in her apartment, she鈥檇 be in jail right now.鈥�
Smith-Fields鈥� family said it took them two days to locate their daughter after they realized she was missing. After discovering the police did not collect any evidence, they said they gathered it themselves and handed it over to the police, including a used condom and bloody bedsheets. They said Crosland, their attorney, calls frequently to check on the status of the evidence, and some of it has yet to be filed.
Smith-Fields鈥� relatives also criticized the department鈥檚 refusal to update them on the progress of the investigation. After pressing them for information for weeks, they finally secured a meeting with the lead detective, who Crosland says 鈥渟creamed and yelled鈥� at the family when they asked why police weren鈥檛 treating the death as a potential criminal case.
Dorothy Washington, the sister of Brenda Lee Rawls, says her experience at the same precinct at the same time was similar when following up on the death of her sister.
鈥淢y family has no more information than the first day where we found out where Brenda was. That鈥檚 crazy,鈥� Washington said. 鈥淚 want to know what happened to my sister. To this day, we know nothing about my sister鈥檚 autopsy. Why wasn鈥檛 the scene of her apartment swept for evidence? Was the male acquaintance questioned?鈥�
Members of both families called for acting Police Chief Garcia to be removed from her position. that the Smith-Fields family says did not address any specifics about how police would prevent this from happening in the future.
Both families also demanded the DOJ step in and 鈥渢ake over鈥� the investigation.
鈥淚 want closure. I want a thorough investigation. I want it done right. And I don鈥檛 believe Bridgeport can do that,鈥� Washington said.
The police commissioners did not respond to any of the families鈥� comments except to give their condolences.
The Bridgeport Police Department and mayor鈥檚 office did not immediately return requests for comment.
