NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After more than four hours of testimony on Thursday – it still wasn’t clear why Bricen Rivers was allowed to bond out of jail, cross state lines, and according to police murder, his girlfriend Lauren Johansen in Mississippi.
What was clear in court was that the case was mishandled from the beginning.
In December 2023, Rivers was arrested in Nashville for assaulting Johansen while the two were here on vacation. He finally bonded out in June with a GPS monitoring device and returned home to Mississippi. Days later, authorities found her dead.
You can catch up on this investigation in the player above.
Two different companies — Brooke's Bail Bonding and On Time Bail Bonds — put up $75,000 each to get Rivers released from jail. The judge said Rivers had to stay in Nashville, have no contact with the victim, and wear a GPS tracking device. But the bonding companies allowed him to return to Mississippi where police say he murdered his ex-girlfriend. A third company, Freedom Monitoring Services, was responsible for monitoring his GPS device.
Much of this case revolves around Nakeda Wilhoite. NewsChannel 5 Investigates discovered she was holding down multiple jobs while being responsible for monitoring Bricen Rivers.
Wilhoite became a key person during an evidence hearing Thursday, where a six-judge panel tried to figure out what went wrong in this case.
Wilhoite not only works for Brooke's Bail Bonding, she also runs Freedom Monitoring Services. Wilhoite says she was unaware of the court's order that required Rivers to remain in Davidson County. Rivers told the company that he was going back to Mississippi, even after he signed the court order requiring him to stay in Tennessee until his trial.
What happened in the hearing?
Wilhoite initially did not appear at the hearing on Thursday.
Her attorney Jack Byrd had told NewsChannel 5 Investigates the day before that his client was not planning to attend, although she looked forward to clearing her name in court.
But the 6-judge panel decided her presence was required. They wanted Wilhoite to explain what happened and how she juggled running the monitoring company, working for the bail bond company and having a full-time job with the Tennessee Department of Children's Services.
Wilhoite told the court she only met Rivers on June 29. By then, he already had a GPS device installed by one of her colleagues through Brooke's Bail Bonding. She said she didn't know Rivers was supposed to stay in Davidson County until the day before they met.
Wilhoite said she told Rivers to return to Nashville to fix his GPS device but wasn't sure she had the authority to take him to jail for violating his bond conditions.
She said she spoke with Rivers about housing and job opportunities in Nashville, so she believed he intended to stay in town.
But Wilhoite later admitted she set up a restriction zone on his GPS monitoring around Johansen's home in Mississippi, using an address Rivers provided.
Both prosecutors and the judges appeared frustrated when Wilhoite admitted she knew Rivers had violated his bond conditions, but made no effort to contact law enforcement.
"I had no warrant," Wilhoite said.
"You don't need a warrant to surrender someone, correct? she was asked.
"I think you would. I just couldn't show up to the jail with him I'm sure," Wilhoite said.
"They do it all the time," Judge Dozier said.
Judge Dozier asked Brooke Harlan — the owner of Brooke's Bail Bonding — why Wilhoite was still working for her, knowing she let Rivers leave the state and return home to Mississippi.
Harlan said she'd discussed the issue with her staff - including Wilhoite - and they would make changes moving forward.
Harlan also blamed the clerk's office for their role in the mishandling of this case.
Officials with the clerk's office admit they failed to attach Rivers' bond conditions to his release papers, but insist those conditions were relayed to Rivers and the bonding companies when the papers were first signed.
Harlan says when she realized Rivers wasn't supposed to have left Nashville, she told her staff to make sure he returned to Nashville.
"I said well, he needs to get here, he needs to stay here. He can stay in a hotel, the mission, wherever, and he needs to be in court on the second," Harlan said.
When or if that message was relayed to Wilhoite is still not clear.
What does Johansen's family think?
The Johansen family was back in Nashville and sat through the hearing on Thursday.
They were visibly upset about how Nashville's criminal justice system failed their daughter.
"I don't care who you say you're working for," Dr. Lance Johansen said. "If you think you're working for this company one day or this company that day. When you have a person that's out on bond and they are in violation of the bond, you dial 911. That's what you do."
Her family has told us they have been heartbroken and frustrated that their daughter is dead. They picked her up from the hospital after Rivers was arrested for beating her in Nashville. She was covered in blood from a cut to her forehead and her eye was swollen shut. She had to be treated for multiple injuries.
When Rivers bonded out this summer, court officials acknowledged that an error by one of their clerks meant the Davidson County Jail did not have Rivers' bond conditions when he was released.
"When Mr. Rivers was released, I wasn't notified. My daughter wasn't notified," Dr. Johansen said.
That meant Rivers' walked out of jail without supervision before calling Brooke's Bail Bonding himself.
Jail records show Rivers was released from the Davidson County Jail later than the order requested, so Harlan hired Freedom Monitoring and Wilhoite for GPS services instead of Tracking Solutions as ordered by the courts.
At the time, Rivers' mother had paid for only part of the agreed-upon bond. There was no clear answer from either bonding company on why Rivers was released before his balance was paid and judges say that's a problem.
While partial payments were made before Rivers was released, he still owed the bond companies thousands more.
The six-judge panel heard the testimony and will decide soon whether the companies should be punished for their roles in Rivers' release. Punishment could take the form of a suspension or they could have their abilities to write bonds in Davidson County revoked.
