NewsChannel 5 Investigates has learned that the woman responsible for installing and monitoring Bricen Rivers’ GPS device was juggling three other jobs, including a full-time day job with the state.
Rivers is accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend Lauren Johansen, the same woman he was charged with assaulting while the two were here on vacation back in December. He finally bonded out in late July with a GPS monitoring device. Days later, authorities found her dead.
On top of running her new GPS monitoring company, Nakeda Wilhoite also worked as a bonding agent for Brooke’s Bail Bonding and ran her own bonding company out of Sumner County. While at the same time, she was working full-time as a case manager for the Tennessee Department of Children's Services.
Freedom Monitoring was so new at the time that you could hardly find a website or phone number, but a week later, Nakeda was monitoring the whereabouts of Rivers, who would become one of the most talked about murder suspects across state lines.
“My main thing is I don’t see how you manage that,” said Becky Bullard.
Bullard is the Deputy Director of Programs for Metro Nashville’s Office of Family Safety, where they’re often paired with DCS caseworkers.
“It’s a very high caseload. A very intense caseload as well,” Bullard said.
“You’re essentially working 24-7,” we asked.
“I would hope not just for their mental health, but it is a very demanding position from what we see for sure,” Bullard said.
It’s a job Wilhoite held for more than 10 years, but when we asked DCS about all her other jobs, Wilhoite abruptly resigned.
The reason for her resignation from DCS was crossed out on her resignation letter. Still, we know this came after DCS opened an internal investigation into Wilhoite's secondary employment, which now included the tracking of dangerous offenders with GPS devices.
“That is an enormous responsibility,” Bullard said.
“So, it can’t just be another job or paycheck that they’re collecting,” we asked.
“If you’re in this field for a paycheck, it is not the right field,” Bullard replied.
We know Wilhoite began working for DCS in 2014 out of Davidson County.
In 2017, she took another job as a bonding agent for Brooke’s Bail Bonding. She began working a year later for a bonding company in Sumner County, a company she would eventually take over in 2023. None of those were disclosed to her supervisors at DCS.
DCS requires employees to ask permission to work any secondary jobs, but Wilhoite didn't do that until 2023 when she told DCS she would only be answering phones on the weekends for a bonding company.
The request was approved but DCS told us they had no idea Wilhoite was also writing bonds and operating two other companies, including Freedom Monitoring, all while working one of the most demanding jobs in the state.
“My question is how much time were they able to really dedicate to this and take this as seriously as it needed to be taken,” Bullard said.
Johansen’s father will tell you he’s now well past pointing fingers but knows more could have been done to save his daughter’s life.
Johansen was found dead in her car in early July, parked near a Mississippi cemetery.
“Everybody wants to point the finger at somebody else, well my daughter is buried six feet under the ground now,” Dr. Lance Johansen said.
Rivers was charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend after deputies spotted him trying to escape the wooded area not far from where Johansen's body was discovered. This was days after he was released on bond from a Nashville jail where he had been held for allegedly beating up Johansen the following year.
Wilhoite was asked to install a GPS ankle monitor on Rivers by Brooke’s Bail Bonding, the same company where she worked as a bonding agent.
Both Wilhoite and Brooke's Bonding told a court they were unaware of an order requiring Rivers to stay in Davidson County and away from Johansen.
That’s why Wilhoite says she allowed Rivers to immediately return to Mississippi, even though the bonding company she had been working for since 2017 had already signed the order claiming to understand all his restrictions.
NewsChannel 5 Legal Analyst Nick Leonardo said once Rivers’ bond conditions were agreed upon and signed by these bonding companies, there’s no reason he should have been allowed to leave the county.
“If they did have that knowledge, that’s a violation of the court order that was signed by their agent in open court,” Leonardo said.
Then there’s the matter of the photo taken the day after Wilhoite said she finally learned Rivers couldn’t leave the county or be anywhere near Johansen.
Wilhoite said she told Rivers to return to Nashville where she replaced his GPS device, but the people who shared the photo said Rivers appeared to be driving Johansen’s car with Johansen in the passenger seat.
Why Wilhoite never called the cops to report that Rivers was in violation is still not clear, but records show Wilhoite was working eight-hour shifts for DCS in the days leading up to Johansen’s murder and Rivers’ arrest.
“If we’re going to have companies that are providing these services for the criminal justice system, they should have an understanding and awareness of the gravity of these cases and the potential for harm, the potential for lethal outcomes like what we saw in this case,” Bullard said.
A panel of six Nashville judges now say they want answers for “irregularities” with Rivers’ release. They’ve requested a hearing for both bonding companies to share evidence and explain some of these irregularities.
Wilhoite’s attorney said she has not been subpoenaed to appear in court, but they do look forward to presenting the facts they believe will clear her name.
They declined our requests for an interview.
By all indications, Wilhoite is still operating her GPS monitoring company, running her own bond company, while continuing to work for Brooke’s Bail Bonding.
You can watch a special presentation of NewsChannel 5+ OpenLine where we discussed the Bricen Rivers case.
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