The suspect in the murder of University Southern Mississippi nursing student Lauren Johansen has been denied bond on his charge of first-degree murder and will remain incarcerated at the Forrest County Correctional Facility.
During an initial court appearance on July 26, municipal court judge Gay Polk-Payton denied that measure for 23-year-old Bricen John Rivers, the ex-boyfriend of Johansen, who is accused of beating her to death. In addition to the murder charge, Rivers also faces counts of grand larceny auto, tampering with physical evidence, probation violation, malicious mischief and simple assault/domestic violence.
Polk-Payton placed $20,000 bonds on each of those charges with exception to the murder charge.
Investigators initially believed Johansen was murdered in Harrison County, but recent evidence suggests the 22-year-old – who lived on South 11th Avenue in Hattiesburg – was instead killed in Forrest County. Earlier this week, Rivers was transported from the Harrison County Adult Detention Center, where he was being held at the time, to Forrest County.
“We’re probably going to take the lead on it, because there’s some evidence in Hattiesburg, some evidence in Petal and of course some evidence in Harrison County,” Forrest County Sheriff Charlie Sims said. “So to put it all under one umbrella, we’ll probably handle the case and put it into presentable form for the DA’s office and their prosecution, and move forward with that.
On December 11, 2023, Johansen and Rivers were on vacation in Nashville, Tennessee, when they got into a physical altercation outside a bar in that city, after which Johansen – who lived on South 11th Avenue in Hattiesburg – was found alive but with physical injuries inside a car with Rivers in Germantown, Tennesee. Shortly after that, Rivers, who was determined to have physically assaulted Johansen, was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of aggravated stalking and one count of coercion of a witness.
A week later, Rivers’ bond was set at $250,000, but was then reduced to $150,000. Inmates are required to post 10 percent of their bond amount to be released from jail, meaning Rivers paid $15,000 for his release.
As part of his bond, Rivers was ordered not to leave Davidson County, Tennessee, and was required to wear an ankle bracelet. He was released from jail on June 24 of this year.
Four days later, Rivers’ bracelet stopped responding.
Johansen’s father – who had previously requested to judge Cheryl Blackburn that Rivers not be released from jail – was notified of that fact. On June 29, Rivers went back to Nashville to be fitted with a new ankle bracelet.
“He was in jail in Tennessee, and was released,” Sims said. “There were certain considerations on his release.
“I think there was a mix-up in Tennessee – he got an ankle monitor from a different company and had to go back up. After that, my understanding is – and I don’t know because I haven’t seen the documents or anything from Tennessee – that he was not supposed to leave the state of Tennessee, but ended up here in Hattiesburg.”
On July 2, Johansen’s father was notified that her Life360 tracker on her phone had been deactivated, and Johansen’s sister said she had not returned home. The family then reported her missing to officials from the Hattiesburg Police Department.
The next day, HPD officials tracked Johansen’s car to Wolf River Cemetery in Harrison County, where they observed Rivers running from the vehicle and into the woods. Officers found Johansen’s body wrapped in trash bags and sheets in her car.
Six hours later, Rivers was taken into custody and booked into the Harrison County Adult Detention Center.
Johansen’s father has repeatedly spoken out against the measures that allowed his daughter’s alleged murder out of jail and back out into the public.
