Nashville bail bond companies appear in court, answer questions on accused murderer’s release

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — On Thursday, Nashville bail bond companies associated with the release of an accused murderer appeared before Nashville’s criminal court judges.

The Davidson County Clerk’s Office already admitted to an error that allowed Bricen Rivers to be released without initially communicating his bond conditions, which included staying in Nashville. Days after his release, Lauren Johansen was found dead.

According to court documents, the purpose of Thursday’s hearing was to ensure the “reliability” of Brooke’s Bail Bonding and On-Time Bonding and to determine the facts of the release. Lauren’s father, Dr. Lance Johansen, told News 2 that this hearing is also about getting to the truth, no matter how painful.

According to court documents, Rivers was released on June 24 on a $150,000 bond. Part of the conditions of Rivers’ release included electronic monitoring, a requirement to stay in Nashville and no contact with Lauren.

In court Thursday, owner and CEO of Brooke’s Bail Bonding Brooke Harlan told the six presiding judges that Rivers had an ankle monitor on his person when he traveled to Mississippi — the same day that he was released.

While Rivers was in Mississippi, the ankle monitor allegedly has problems. The owner of Freedom Monitoring, Dr. Nakeda Burrow, called him back to Nashville. When he came back, he got a new monitor.

“I asked why did he even go there initially. They said there were some issues with the address, so when I talked with him on Saturday, I did talk to him about jobs here in Nashville,” Burrow said. “Making sure, you know, that he had some things set up. He led me to believe that he was going to still stay here in Nashville.”

Burrow told the judges that the company only set up the system for an alert around Lauren Johansen’s Mississippi home. She said they got the victim’s address from Rivers himself. Burrow added that she never set zones for him to be out of Davidson County. The state’s attorney then asked her why she did not set zones for him on June 29.

“I could’ve set the zones on the 29th,” Burrow explained. “I didn’t set the zones because he was already in Nashville. He was supposed to stay in Nashville and he was going to be here for the court date on Tuesday.”

Later, Lauren’s father also took the stand.

“We felt like so many different errors occurred that, at some point, if just one thing went our way, she would still be here today,” Lance told News 2.

On July 1, Lance received a voicemail from the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office warning him about Rivers’ release. They added that he’d already violated the terms of his bond:

“This is Bailey calling from the District Attorney’s Office here in Nashville. I’m giving you a call because I was trying to get in touch with Lauren and I just wasn’t able to reach her this morning. But I wanted to let you all know as soon as possible that Bricen Rivers was released from custody. He was supposed to report straight to a GPS company and be put on a GPS monitor and he was not to leave Davidson County. But as soon as he was released, he did not report to that GPS monitoring company, and he has not been heard from. I wanted to make sure Lauren is safe and that you all take the proper precautions just in case he does return to Mississippi.”

– Part of the voicemail from the Davidson County Attorney’s Office

“When I got the voicemail, I already knew he was coming to kill her,” Lance previously told News 2.

Rivers did not appear in court on July 2. Lance filed a missing person’s report after finding his daughter’s front door left open. Additionally, home security video was destroyed and she never show up for work.

On July 3, Lauren was found dead. Rivers was arrested on first-degree murder charges. He was denied bond.

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