Twist after woman, 23, found dead following Bumble date

More than a month after a 23-year-old woman was found dead in her apartment after a date, police have said they will open a criminal investigation.

On December 12, Lauren Smith-Fields was found unresponsive by the man she had met through dating app Bumble. They had been out together the night before her death.

The police were called, though the family of Ms Smith-Fields allege the authorities never contacted them to inform them of her death.

Instead, a day after Ms Smith-Fields died, her family came to her Connecticut home only to find a note on her door.

"When I got there, there was a note on the door saying, 'If you're looking for Lauren, call this number'," Ms Smith-Fields' mother, Shantell Fields, told CBS News.

A detective eventually asked the family to stop calling, they said.

The family of Ms Smith-Fields have accused the police of not giving her case enough attention because she was black.

Connecticut's chief medical examiner’s office revealed Ms Field-Smith's cause of death just days ago.

It was ruled that her death was accidental and due to "acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine and alcohol”.

However, on Tuesday, Bridgeport Police said its narcotics and vice division, with help from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, will investigate to see if any crimes were committed and if anyone should be charged.

CBS News reported the man she met with the night before her death had not been charged with any crime.

The man, who has not been named, told police he and Ms Smith-Fields watched a movie and spent the night eating and drinking.

He reportedly told police at some point during the night, Ms Smith-Fields met someone outside, she then later felt ill and kept drinking and he carried her to bed after she fell asleep.

The man slept next to her that night, woke up and called the authorities the next morning when he discovered she was not breathing and her nose was bleeding.

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Darnell Crosland, Ms Smith-Fields' family's attorney, has notified the city of his intent to file a lawsuit accusing police of failing to properly investigate.

In his notice of intent to sue, Mr Crosland said evidence, including a blood-stained bed sheet, was left in the apartment and was not recovered by police until two weeks later at the family’s insistence.

"There was a big circle of blood, in the middle of the bed, there were two cups of drinks or whatever, next to a bottle — they didn't take none of that," Ms Smith-Fields' brother Lakeem Jetter said according to NBC New York.

"We had seen a condom, lube, other stuff in there. They had taken none of this."

He said that as of Friday the evidence had still not been submitted to the state forensics lab.

“The police department has been racially insensitive to this family and has treated this family with no respect and has violated their civil rights,” Crosland wrote.

A GoFundMe has been set up, with all proceeds going to the family as they seek justice.

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