NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In the span of one week, Bricen Rivers went from walking out of the Davidson County jail to being accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend Lauren Johansen roughly seven hours away.
For Johansen’s father, Robert, it’s heartbreak that’s stretched beyond state lines.
"She had dreams and hopes that were larger than life. The best quality about her is that she had a really big heart," he said.
Harrison County Sheriff’s deputies out of Mississippi say Johansen was brutally beaten to death before she was left in her car, wrapped in sheets and trash bags.
It took another six hours before deputies tracked down and arrested the man they believed killed the young woman.
"I think the criminal justice system in Nashville failed my daughter and our family," her dad said.
Back in April, Judge Cheryl Blackburn agreed to reduce Rivers’ bond from $250,000 to $150,000. She wrote in court documents obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates that conviction likelihood was "high" in the case because of the body camera footage from police officers and the audio recording from inside the car.
Blackburn noted there was no testimony that Rivers had any prior criminal history.
By then Rivers had already spent the last four months in jail for allegedly kidnapping Johansen and beating her for hours in a Nashville parking lot.
Rivers and his conditions of bond
Court documents showed that Rivers should have never been back living in Mississippi. In fact, he was supposed to live in Davidson County, have an electronic monitoring device and have zero contact with Johansen in any form. He was also supposed to have no weapons.
Freedom Monitoring Services wrote that they were unaware of the court's order that required Rivers to remain in Davidson County. Rivers told the company that he would be living in Mississippi, even after he signed the court order demanding he not leave Tennessee.
Freedom Monitoring Services told the court they received the court's order on June 28 and that zones were set for the GPS device at that time, but that didn't explain why they allowed Rivers to remain in Mississippi.
They wrote they advised him to return to Nashville because the monitor had given them a "no communication alert" and had to "undergo troubleshooting."
They then gave Rivers a new monitor once he returned to Nashville, and they said his tracking returned to normal.
On July 1, the monitoring services said they told Rivers his monitor needed to be charged because it got down to 6%. He complied to charge it but told the monitoring services he wouldn't be there for a July 2 court date. They told him he needed to make arrangements to come to Nashville despite his claims he didn't have a ride, according to the monitoring report to the court.
On July 2, the monitoring company said the battery started to die again and eventually did so. The monitoring services said they tried to contact him but never received a response. They also notified the bonding company at that point. His last location was near a beach in Biloxi, before they lost contact.
When NewsChannel 5 Investigates began asking questions about why Rivers was allowed to remain in Mississippi when his bond agreement said he couldn't leave Nashville, the company told us to contact their attorney.
How Rivers became a suspect in Nashville
In December 2023, Rivers was charged with two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated stalking and witness coercion. This stemmed from an incident while he and the victim were vacationing downtown, where he got angry.
While the couple was leaving downtown, they got in the car where police said Rivers began hitting the victim as he was driving and took her phone. Rivers eventually stopped the car in a parking lot where the assault continued, causing the victim to nearly lose consciousness.
Metro police said they were contacted and told Rivers was holding Johansen hostage. When officers found the couple, Johansen was banging on the car window and screaming for help. Officers said Johansen had a laceration to her head, her eye swollen shut and the vehicle had blood spattered at the front, per court records. Officers told the court they searched the vehicle and found a pistol covered in blood on the floorboard.
Police described Johansen as "distraught." They found her covered in blood with only her underwear on.
Police said they also found two rocks in the car covered with blood, and that Rivers said the 9mm Smith and Wesson belonged to him. Court records indicate Rivers had blood on his hands and face, but didn't appear to be injured. No photographs were taken of Rivers at the scene.
Nashville paramedics testified in court their first reaction was "shock" when they first saw Johansen.
She told police and paramedics Rivers got mad because she was talking to another man and the beating had lasted an hour. Photos were taken of her body as evidence. She told police that she had been screaming for help at any car that passed by but he covered her mouth, according to court records.
What the parents said
Both Rivers and Johansen's parents made statements during the preliminary hearing earlier in 2024.
Rivers' mother, Chelsa, said she talked to her son the night in Nashville when her son was charged. She said she was on and off the phone with her son and said she heard a lot of screaming on the other end of the phone. When she realized the situation had become physical, she reached out to police, court records show.
She also called Johansen's family.
She asked her son if he had hurt Johansen.
He replied there was "blood everywhere," according to court documents.
Johansen's father, Robert, told the court Rivers' family informed him that their son had pistol-whipped his daughter. He called the police and helped them find her using an app on her phone. Rivers' mother said she was afraid "she would be killed."
Her dad told the court he came to Nashville and took their daughter back home to Mississippi from the hospital. He took photographs of his daughter's injuries and told the court it appeared she had been "hit over 100 times."
What Johansen said
Police said that her statement changed from the hospital to the courtroom.
Judge Blackburn wrote the physical evidence in the case didn't support her testimony. There were also calls between Johansen and Rivers while he was in jail. Those phone call recordings were submitted for the hearing.
Johansen told the court she felt asleep and woke up hitting him, pulling out a chunk of his hair. She said she got out of the car but got back in and threw a metal water bottle at him. However, police didn't see any injuries on Rivers when they arrived at the scene, according to court documents.
She told police the car was bloody she was spitting and blood got everywhere, and the reason her eye was swollen was because they struggling over the pistol. She said Rivers never hit her with a closed fist, and she didn't know how her head was lacerated. She said she didn't remember telling the police he beat her, according to court documents.
She told the court she was only in her underwear because she had gotten hot.
However, none of that is what she told police at the hospital.
Detectives were later informed that there were jail calls from Rivers to Johansen, and she later didn't return calls from Nashville police since she was released from the hospital.
We know getting help may seem daunting, scary and complex. Below are some jumping-off points in your county.
All counties: Morning Star Sanctuary - (615) 860-0188 / Nurture the Next - (615) 383-0994 / The Mary Parrish Center - (615) 256-5959 / YWCA Nashville - (615) 983-5160
Bedford / Coffee County: Haven of Hope - (931) 728-1133
Cheatham County: Safe Haven of Cheatham County - (615) 681-5863
Cannon County: Cannon County S.A.V.E - (615)-563-6690
Clay County: Genesis House - (931) 525-1637
Davidson County: Family & Children Services - (615) 320-0591 / Family Safety Center - (615) 880-1100 / Jean Crowe Advocacy Center - (615) 862-4767
Dickson and Hickman Counties: Women Are Safe (931) 729-9885
Giles County: The Shelter, Inc. - (931) 762-1115
Grundy County: Families in Crisis, Inc. - (931) 473-6543
Houston / Montgomery Counties: Urban Methodist Urban Ministries Safehouse - (931) 648-9100
Maury County: Center of Hope - (931) 840-0916
Robertson / Sumner / Wilson Counties: HomeSafe Inc. - (615) 452-5439
Rutherford County: Domestic & Sexual Assault Center - (615) 896-7377
Williamson County: Bridges Domestic Violence Center - (615) 599-5777
