Brenda Rawls was found dead at her home in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the same day as Lauren Smith-Fields. Her family has also accused the Bridgeport police of not taking action regarding her death.
NBC News reported that Brenda Rawls, 53, was found dead in her Bridgeport home on December 12, after her family, who typically spoke to her daily, didn’t hear from her for several days.
Rawls’ sister, Dorothy Rawls Washington, said they talked on the phone or texted each other every day. On December 11, Brenda told her relatives she’d planned to go to the home of a male acquaintance who lived down the street. For two days, her family unsuccessfully tried to contact her.
“Then, on the 14th, we said something’s wrong,” Washington told NBC News. “So two of my sisters, my niece and my niece’s boyfriend, walked down to that male’s house.”
When they asked if Brenda was there, he replied that he couldn’t wake her up on December 12.
Her other sister, Angela Rawls, noted, “He gave me the clothing she had on and her shoes. I don’t know why that was left behind.”
The Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Rawls’ cause of death is undetermined. Still, the circumstances of her passing and police response are similar to 23-year-old Lauren Smith-Fields, who was also found dead in her Bridgeport apartment.
Like Smith-Fields’ family, Rawls’ family said police never notified them of her death.
“Nobody ever notified us that she died,” Washington said. “We had to do our investigation and find out where she was.”
The family, unable to find her body, eventually contacted a local funeral home to see if she was there. The funeral home directed the family to reach out to the state medical examiner’s office, and that’s where they located her.
Rawls’ family alleged that Bridgeport police failed to launch an investigation into the woman’s death and are not taking the case seriously. Washington said she and her sisters went to the Bridgeport Police Department last month and were given the name of a detective to contact. She called the officer several times, but he never responded.
The family has sent four letters to Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim and acting police chief Rebeca Garcia. So far, they have not gotten a response.
Washington and other Rawls family members attended a rally for Smith-Fields in Bridgeport on Sunday, which would have been her 24th birthday. Both families are calling on the state to investigate the deaths of Smith-Fields and Rawls.
