A domestic abuser freed from jail allegedly beat his ex-girlfriend’s face so badly that it came off of her body.
Nursing student Lauren Johansen, 22, is believed to have been brutally and fatally attacked by Bricen Rivers, 23, on July 2 after he was released from prison earlier this month.
‘I can’t explain to you the beating that this man did to my daughter,’ her dad, Dr Lance Johansen, told WDAM.
‘He beat her so badly that her skull and her face pretty much became fractured from the rest of her body.
‘He basically beat her until the front of her head came off. No human being deserves to have this happen to them.’
Rivers had been put behind bars after a December incident in Nashville, Tennessee, when he allegedly almost beat Lauren to death as they were vacationing. But Rivers was allowed out on bond after that crime.
The ex-boyfriend then apparently traveled from Tennessee to Mississippi, where he is accused of beating her dead.
‘He misled the judge here,’ said Lance, who is an orthopedic surgeon. ‘He misled the judge there before, and I think the bottom line is, you cannot take a criminal’s word for saying the right thing, because this man is a pathological liar.’
Rivers appeared in Forrest County Court on Friday afternoon and Judge Gay Polk-Payton ordered him to jail. He has been charged with first-degree murder, grand larceny auto and tampering with evidence.
Asked if he was out on bond at the time of Lauren’s killing, Rivers replied: ‘No, not to my knowledge.’
Forrest County Assistant District Attorney Clay Cranfold told the judge that Rivers was wrong and that he was indeed out on bond.
A sobbing Lance told the Daily Mail: ‘I realize people have rights but you can’t just let loose a wild animal.
‘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.’
According to a Davidson County Criminal Court clerk in Tennessee, there were errors around Rivers’ release from imprisonment, WSMV reported.
Lauren was popular where she grew up in Gulfport and began dating Rivers, a star football player. Their relationship was marred with violence and she wanted to end it as she went off to the University of Southern Mississippi.
Lauren’s father said that Rivers being back in jail represents ‘some justice’.
‘I’m confident that he’s never going to see the light of day again,’ Lance said.
‘This man’s not done killing people, and if he has a chance, he’ll kill somebody in in jail.’
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