In a story that reads more like a gruesome thriller than real life, 22-year-old nursing student Lauren Johansen was (allegedly) brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend 23-year-old Bricen Rivers in Mississippi. She was found dead in River’s car at a graveyard on July 3rd after being brutally beaten.
Despite a clear pattern of violence and multiple arrests, and Rivers being on the hook for kidnapping and “interference” charges pertaining to Johansen in Nashville before the murder, the justice system, headed by Democratic judge Cheryl Blackburn, somehow found it prudent to release Rivers from jail, only for him to return to Mississippi to murder Johansen.
While on vacation in Nashville, Tennessee, Rivers had reportedly beat her in a drunken rage after accusing her of having sex with a bartender. Police reports indicate that he grabbed her phone so she couldn’t call for help and drove her to a parking lot where he beat her with a pistol and also pulled out large chunks of her hair.
A father’s plea ignored.
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Johansen’s father, Dr. Lance Johansen, an orthopedic surgeon, had repeatedly warned authorities that Rivers would strike again if given the chance. He told the judge that Rivers would kill his daughter but unfortunately, his warnings went unheeded.
Dr. Johansen, who documented the horrific injuries his daughter sustained in the past, had one simple plea: keep this man behind bars. Yet, despite overwhelming evidence and a previous incident where Rivers had beaten Lauren over 100 times, the justice system chose to gamble with her life. It was a gamble that cost Lauren everything.
Reduced bond and release.
Rivers’ attorney went to Judge Blackburn in March to reduce his client’s bond for the Nashville incident. And although the judge said there was a “high likelihood of conviction” due to audio recordings and police body came, she reduced his bond anyway, erroneously stating that he didn’t have a prior criminal history. The suspect was also told he had to remain in Davidson County (Nashville) and wear a GPS monitor. This was not followed through on and off he went to Mississippi to (allegedly) kill Johansen.
The audio cited above includes Rivers threatening Johansen saying while she is crying, “Hey, I’m gonna be real with you…If you move at all tonight from the spot you’re in, I swear to God, you ain’t waking up to see tomorrow morning. So I just suggest you cooperate and calm down….All I gotta do is drive 15 minutes outward and I can drop you off in the woods, right? And no one will ever see you again.”
This isn’t just a miscarriage of justice; it’s a complete breakdown of a system that’s supposed to protect victims, not endanger them further.
A fatal misjudgment by the courts.
Lauren Johansen’s tragic end came after Rivers, reportedly notorious for his violent tendencies, including kidnapping and stalking charge pertaining to Johansen, was freed by the Nashville judge. But she hasn’t made a statement about Johansen’s murder or her role in the killing. No comment from her – and there probably won’t be one forthcoming.
A father’s heartbreak.
In an interview with WDAM, Dr. Johansen said about the murder of his daughter, “He (Rivers) basically beat her until the front of her head came off. No human being deserves to have this happen to them.”
He said after his daughter was murdered about the system that let the “wild animal” otherwise known as Rivers to roam free, “They knew he was a psychopath: they knew he was going to kill her if he got out. I warned them how this was going to play out and they went ahead and did it anyway.”
A nationwide crisis in domestic violence cases.
But this case isn’t a one-off. It’s happening all over the country where law enforcement, prosecutors and judges aren’t taking domestic violence seriously. It’s everywhere.
And when a MURDER happens, we see that there were red flags everywhere and that the killings are often very predictable based on the patterns of the abuse – the arrests, the calls on domestic disturbances, the concerns of family and friends…
The need for reform.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, the system’s defenders will likely scramble to deflect blame, citing procedural errors and miscommunications. But these excuses offer little solace to Lauren’s family and do nothing to address the systemic issues that allowed this to happen. The reality is stark: our justice system, in this instance, did not just fail; it actively endangered the life it was meant to protect.
As Rivers now faces charges of first-degree murder, grand larceny auto, and tampering with evidence, and has finally been held without bond, it’s little comfort to know that he will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars. This outcome, which should have been a given after his initial arrest, only came after an irreversible tragedy.
Lauren Johansen’s story is a heartbreaking reminder of the justice system’s often flawed approach to domestic violence cases and it underscores the urgent need for reform and a more vigilant, victim- focused approach to ensure that no other woman has to suffer the same fate as Lauren. Until then, “justice” remains a hollow promise, leaving countless women vulnerable and unprotected.
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