WARNING: Contains graphic images

Bricen Rivers was released from remand custody in a violent assault case, only to be accused of murder days later

Judge Cheryl Blackburn lowered bond Bricen Rivers from $250,000 to $150,000 even after seeing images of the brutal beating he inflicted on Mississippi student Lauren Johansen that led to gruesome injuries

Rivers, 23, spent seven months in jail for the barbaric attack and was released on June 24, only to beat Lauren to death on July 3 

In the assault case, nursing student Lauren Johansen, 22, was pistol-whipped and beaten to a pulp by ‘psychopath’ ex-boyfriend, Bricen Rivers on Dec 11

Rivers flew into a jealous rage during a night out in Nashville, last December clubbed Johansen with a pistol and pulled out chunks of her hair, after he accused her of sleeping with a bartender

Nine days after he posted bond, Johansen was found beaten to death in Gulfport, Mississippi – Rivers was arrested on suspicion of murder

Rivers is back in custody, charged with murder and booked into the Harrison County jail early Thursday, where he remains on a $1million bond

Graphic image: [right], brutal injuries suffered by Mississippi nursing student Lauren Johansen’s after she was beaten by ex-boyfriend Bricen Rivers in December 

Disturbing images have emerged of the horrific are the gruesome injuries inflicted on nursing student Lauren Johansen by the ‘psychopath’ ex-boyfriend. The was suspect was arrested and charged in that case, still the man allegedly, would go on to kidnap and murder her – after a judge lowered his bond paving the way for his release.
Johansen was pistol-whipped and beaten to a pulp by warped Bricen Rivers, 23, after he flew into a jealous rage during a night out in Nashville, Tennessee, last December.
The 22-year-old student survived the violence but photographs taken afterwards, reveal her petite body riddled with bruises and her face so bloody and swollen she was barely recognizable.
Lauren’s wounds were cataloged by her dad, Dr. Lance Johansen. The 58-year-old surgeon was desirous that the courts see the harm his daughter’s assailant was capable of inflicting, as he awaited trial on kidnapping and stalking charges.

Bricen Rivers [photo], spent seven months in jail for the barbaric December attack that left Lauren Johansen an bloody mess. Rivers was released in June. Nine days later Lauren was beaten to death

Dr Johansen, a respected orthopedic surgeon and father-of-four was so worried for his ‘wonderful, kind’ daughter’s safety that he attended the preliminary hearing to warn a Davidson County judge that Rivers would ‘finish the job’ if he ever got out of jail.
Despite the dad’s concerns, Judge Cheryl Blackburn, later decided to lower the alleged attacker’s bond from $250,000 to $150,000, paving the way for his June 24 release.
Nine days after the suspect posted bond and walked free, Lauren was found beaten to death in Gulfport, Mississippi. Rivers was arrested on suspicion of murder in Lauren’s death.
‘You can see what happened when he hit her 100 times back in December so just imagine what he did to her when nobody was around to save her,’ the grieving father said, fighting tears.
The heartbroken dad added: ‘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.’

Respected surgeon Lance Johansen [photo], who said his daughter was ‘hit over 100 times’, pled with the judge not to let Rivers out of jail, warning it was highly likely that Rivers would ‘finish the job’ if he ever got out of jail

Bubbly, popular Lauren grew up in Gulfport where she started dating Rivers, the star player on his high school football team.
Their relationship was plagued by violent episodes and by the time she headed off to the University of Southern Mississippi she was determined to call it quits.
Her family claim ‘obsessed’ Rivers stalked her on and off for years, breaking into her apartment and starting fights with any men she tried to date.
They were shocked to learn late last year that Lauren had reconciled with Rivers and gone on vacation with him to Nashville, a decision Lance puts down to his daughter suffering from ‘battered woman syndrome’.

Lauren Johansen was ‘severely beaten, [image]. Her eye was swollen shut and she also had a severe laceration to her forehead,’ according to cops. Her dad claims Rivers hit her 100 times

On December 11, Rivers clubbed Lauren Johansen with a pistol and pulled out chunks of her hair, after he accused her of sleeping with a bartender. Shocking images show Lauren’s face, bloody and swollen from the attack that she was barely recognizable

The wounds were documented by the victim’s dad, Dr. Lance Johansen, who wanted to show the courts how much of a danger and threat Rivers posed to his daughter as he awaited trial on kidnapping and stalking charges

The pair played Topgolf and attended a museum before Rivers flew into a drunken rage on December 11 and accused Lauren of having sex with a bartender, according to a police report.
Rivers snatched Lauren’s phone so she couldn’t call for help and drove to a parking lot where he allegedly clubbed her with a pistol and pulled out chunks of her hair.
He held her captive inside the vehicle for an hour until his mom, Chelsa Rivers, overheard screaming in the background on a call to her son and tipped off cops to their location, according to court filings.
Officers arrived to find ‘traumatized’ Lauren in just her bra and panties, screaming and banging on the window for help and calling for her father.
She was ‘severely beaten, her eye was swollen shut and she also had a severe laceration to her forehead,’ according to cops.

The Johansen family have claimed that ‘obsessed’ Rivers stalked her on and off for years, breaking into her apartment and starting fights with any men she tried to date

A gun was found on the floor of the couple’s rental car which can be seen spattered with blood.
Lauren and Lance attended a preliminary hearing on December 18, where he testified that his eldest daughter had been ‘hit over 100 times’ and he feared for her life if Rivers ever got to her again.
The gun-obsessed abuser languished in jail for four months before his lawyers filed a motion in March asking Judge Cheryl Blackburn to reduce his bond.
While Judge Blackburn noted in an April 3 order there was a ‘high likelihood of conviction’ due to police body camera footage and audio recordings from inside the car.
Nonetheless the judge concluded that a ‘bond of $150,000 is appropriate in this case’ noting that ‘it does not appear that Mr. Rivers has any prior criminal history.’

Despite the pleas by Lauren and her dad that Rivers remain behind bars, Judge Cheryl Blackburn would ultimately agree to lower is bond, noting that ‘it does not appear that Mr. Rivers has any prior criminal history’

Records show that Rivers was arrested in January 2021 in Hancock County, Mississippi for DUI.
He was also arrested in October 2022 for auto burglary in nearby Harrison County and again in December 2022 for possession and trafficking of a controlled substance.
Although the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office contested the reduced bond, at the time it didn’t flag up any prior arrests.
He said this was because Assistant District Attorneys working the case were not aware of any criminal convictions and that arrests that did not result in convictions wouldn’t be considered evidence of prior criminality.

The horrifying assault unfolded on December 11 after Rivers flew into violent rage while the two were in a car and drove to a parking lot where he allegedly clubbed her with a pistol and pulled out chunks of her hair

A gun was found on the floor of the couple’s rental car which can be seen spattered with blood, following the December attack

Judge Blackburn who presided over the December attack proceedings has been on the city’s bench since 1996, was expected to retire in 2021 after suffering a stroke but stayed on and won re-election a year later.
Authorities face further questions over exactly how Rivers was monitored after his family paid $15,000 to secure his release via a company named Brooke’s Bonding.
Judge Blackburn’s order, which was signed by the defendant, said he was barred from leaving Davidson County and should be ‘placed on electronic monitoring’.
Freedom Monitoring Services, the company involved in keeping tabs on Rivers, didn’t appear to know he was supposed to stay in the Nashville area, however, according to reporting by News Channel 5.

After Rivers [photo], was remanded in custody for seven months, before his attorney convinced Judge Blackburn to lower his bail from $250,000 to $150,000. His relatives paid the $15000 bond and he was released – He then allegedly, found his ex and ‘finished the job’

The local accommodation lined up for Rivers reportedly, fell through and he went back to Mississippi to live with family instead.
Lance wasn’t notified that Rivers was at large until June 28 and it wasn’t until July 2 that a hearing was hastily convened to figure out what had happened. By then it was too late.
At 4:01am that day Dr Johansen got an alert saying Lauren was disconnected from Life360, a phone app that he and his wife Tamela used to keep tabs on their eldest child Lauren, her and her siblings Kylar 16, and 14-year-old twins Katelyn and Christian.

On July 3, the mutilated body of Johansen [right], was found wrapped in sheets and garbage bags in the back seat of her car at the Wolf River Cemetery in Gulfport, Mississippi. Suspect Rivers, [left], prosecutors said: ‘knew they were going to throw him back in jail for violating the order and he wouldn’t get out for the next 20 years. He had nothing to lose so he came for her’

At the time Katelyn Johansen was staying over at her big sister’s Hattiesburg home. She awoke to find the front door open, her animals in the yard and the security camera tossed into a bush.
A day later police traced Lauren’s Chevy to an isolated cemetery outside Gulfport where they located her body in the back, wrapped in sheets and trash bags.
Rivers fled into the woods but the shaven-haired brute – who claims to be a US Marine Corps veteran on social media – was tracked down at 11:30pm after an almost nine-hour manhunt.
‘We realized early on that the subject still had his cell phone on him,’ Harrison County Sheriff Matt Haley said.
‘So undercover officers were able to, through text message, have Rivers believe that he was corresponding with a friend, and we were able to lure him out of the woods.’

Judge Blackburn in December order said that it appears Rivers had no priors, but records and mugshots indicate Rivers was arrested in January 2021 in Hancock County, Mississippi for DUI [left] and again in December 2022 [right], for possession and trafficking of a controlled substance

Rivers was booked into the Harrison County jail at 1am Thursday, where he remains on a $1million bond, charged with murder.
‘It all came to a head because of this new court date,’ The DA’s office said through a spokesperson.
‘He knew they were going to throw him back in jail for violating the order and he wouldn’t get out for the next 20 years. He had nothing to lose so he came for her.’

Judge Cheryl Blackburn initially set Rivers’s bond at $250,000, only to later slash it to $150,000, paving the way for his June 24 release

Dr. Lance Johansen helped the coroner remove his daughter’s traumatized body from the back of her car.
Although he is yet to hear the official cause of death, Johansen says, as an experienced physician, he doesn’t need one to know Lauren was savagely beaten, mutilated and made to suffer.
‘My daughter was a wonderful, kind person. She had so much compassion and love for others, there wasn’t a mean bone in her body,’ he added.
‘All I can do to honor her memory is try and stop this happening to someone else’s daughter or granddaughter. Lauren would have hated that more than anything.’
Her funeral is scheduled for Saturday and mourners who wish, can donate to the family’s GoFundMe page here.