A woman had her face beaten to death by her domestically abusive ex-boyfriend after he was released from a Nashville jail despite brutally beating her.
Lauren Johansen is said to have been fatally mauled by her former domestic abuser Bricen Rivers, 23, after he was wrongfully allowed to walk out of a Tennessee jail and travel to Mississippi to attack her earlier this month.
He is believed to have been in jail for attacking his ex last year.
“He beat her so badly that her skull and face were virtually fractured off the rest of her body,” said Johansen’s father, Dr. Lance Johansen. WDAM.
“He basically beat her until the front of her head was torn off. No human being deserves to have this happen to them.”
Rivers, who was charged in the brutal death of his ex-girlfriend, faced Forrest County Judge Gay Polk-Payton on Friday.
He was denied bail and will remain in jail, which will provide some relief to the grieving father of his alleged victim.
Lauren Johansen’s face is said to have been punched by her ex-boyfriend, who has now been charged with her murder.
Dr. Lance Johansen spoke out about his daughter’s horrific murder, saying “no human being deserves to have this happen to them”
Rivers was arrested in Nashville in December 2023 after brutally beating the nursing student while the couple was on vacation after flying into a jealous rage.
Seven months after being incarcerated, he was “mistakenly” released from prison and returned to Mississippi, where he reportedly carried out the murder of his ex-girlfriend.
Nashville prosecutors admitted that Rivers should not have been released by a judge during a bond hearing.
During Friday’s 30-minute court proceedings, Forrest County Deputy District Attorney Clay Cranfold listed Rivers’ current charges as first-degree murder, grand theft auto and tampering with evidence.
Forrest County District Attorney Lin Carter told WDAM 7News, “We made a strong argument against bail.”
The court accepted our argument and he was given no bail for the murder, and then given a $20,000 bail for the carjacking and tampering with evidence.
When the judge asked Rivers if he was out on bail at the time of the murder, the suspect told him “not that I know of,” but the ADA intervened and told the judge that Rivers was out on bail for beating his then-girlfriend nearly to death when the couple were together in Nashville.
Lauren’s father called Rivers a “pathological liar.”
Dr Lance said he had “fooled the judge here (on Friday). He had fooled the judge there before, and I think the bottom line is that you can’t trust a criminal’s word when he says the right thing.”
In 2022, Rivers was charged with drug trafficking in Harrison County, and a year later he faced kidnapping and stalking charges that were overturned on Friday, according to the outlet.
Bricen Rivers, 23, brutally beat his then-girlfriend Lauren Johansen while the couple was out in Nashville, Tennessee, in December 2023. He appears in a mugshot from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Mugshot of Rivers taken by the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office on July 4 after he was charged with killing his ex-girlfriend Lauren Johansen
Rivers allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend, Lauren Johansen, nine days after leaving prison
Prosecutors said new evidence reveals Rivers committed the murder in Forrest County and tried to clean the car to protect evidence before driving it to Harrison County, according to a report.
Lauren’s doctor father discovered his daughter’s body in the backseat of the car on July 3. He described it as “brutally mutilated.”
The distraught father spoke of the miscarriage of justice that led to his daughter’s savage murder, but took some comfort Friday in knowing that Rivers will remain locked up in a detention center.
He said, in part, that he already feels “some relief knowing that” and said, “this is some justice for me.”
“I’m sure he will never see the light of day again,” Johansen said. “This man has not stopped killing people and if he gets the chance, he will kill someone in prison.”
The young woman was pistol-whipped by Rivers after he flew into a jealous rage during a night out in Nashville last December.
Exclusive photos obtained by DailyMail.com show the A little girl covered in bruises and with her face so bloody and swollen that she was barely recognizable.
Lauren’s injuries were catalogued by her father, an orthopedic surgeon, who wanted the courts to see what Rivers was capable of as she awaited trial on kidnapping and stalking charges.
Lance was so concerned about the safety of his “wonderful, kind” daughter that he attended the preliminary hearing to warn a Davidson County judge that Rivers would “finish the job” if she ever got out of jail.
To his surprise, Judge Cheryl Blackburn, a longtime Democratic jurist, later decided to reduce the alleged attacker’s bail from $250,000 to $150,000, paving the way for his release on June 24.
Just nine days after posting bail and being released, Lauren was found beaten to death in Gulfport, Mississippi, and Rivers was arrested on suspicion of her murder.
“You can see what happened when he hit her 100 times in December, so imagine what he did to her when there was no one around to save her,” Lance told DailyMail.com, fighting back tears.
The heartbroken father of four, a respected orthopaedic surgeon, added: “I realise people have rights but you can’t just let a wild animal run loose.