By Noah Noble
Published: Jul. 18, 2024 at 11:34 PM CDT
BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - Dr. Lance Johansen spoke to WLOX News for his first in-person interview since his daughter, Lauren Johansen, was murdered on July 3.
“Lauren grew up in a home that we never spanked her or hit anybody in the family. We just didn’t believe in that,” Dr. Johansen said. “How she came victim to a man that just beat her, and beat her, and beat her and beat her to death, is just . . . my wife’s at home crying about it right now.”
The man Johansen is referring to is his daughter’s allegedly abusive ex-boyfriend, Bricen Rivers.
The young couple dated on and off for about five years.
ALSO READ: Timeline of events leading up to murder of Lauren Johansen
When asked about his first impressions of Rivers, Johansen said this: “They weren’t good. And I told her. But, like any father, there’s some things . . . maybe I should’ve been more aggressive about it, in hindsight. I respected her decision and let her know what I thought.”
Johansen said he did not realize just how bad the relationship was until Rivers was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee in December 2023 when the couple was on vacation.
According to Nashville Police, they found Lauren severely beaten, her eye swollen shut, with a severe laceration to her forehead. She was extremely emotional and asked for her father.
Johansen said he saw body cam footage from that night.
“It’s just really difficult to hear your daughter crying for her life on a video,” he said. “I went up there and picked up Lauren from the hospital and saw what she looked like. I took care of her for the first week afterward because she was really hurt. She is one tough lady. I mean, she was telling me she was okay, I know she couldn’t see that good and everything else.”
Rivers was charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated stalking, and witness coercion.
But, it appears that wasn’t enough to drive Lauren Johansen away. WLOX News asked the father why she kept returning to Rivers.
“Well, look, I’m an orthopedic surgeon and I do joint replacement surgery, I’m not a psychiatrist. But this isn’t rocket science, okay? I knew he was a psychopath. If you look it up and Google it, it’s a very scary person. I had to warn her repeatedly over and over -- you have to stay away from this guy. The problem is these types of people are so manipulative, and they talk their way into anything. And they find a way to have the person they’re abusing act like they did nothing wrong.”
Johansen said he is still perplexed about how a Tennessee judge allowed Rivers out of jail on a reduced bond and without the proper ankle monitor.
“You have a grand jury indictment. You have recordings of a woman screaming for her life in evidence. You have the photographs of the attempted killing, is what I’ll call it. And then you have a body camera from the police officer finding her bloody, almost beat to death, suffocated, and just barely saved her life. And that doesn’t seem to be enough to keep somebody in jail.”
ALSO READ: Murder victim’s father alleges years of abuse by boyfriend, claims judicial system failed daughter
Rivers was released on June 24. On July 3, Harrison County deputies found Lauren Johansen’s mutilated body in the back seat of her car. Rivers was captured in the woods nearby and charged with her murder.
Lance Johansen told WLOX News, he hopes this horrific tragedy might save someone’s life.
“This happens all over the world, unfortunately. No one wants to talk about it. I’ll just say that -- if you’re thinking, sit here something you can do, don’t think about something you can do, go do it. If you’re thinking maybe I should take her and bring her home for a week or two, go do it. Don’t just think about, well maybe I should, maybe I shouldn’t. If you think about it, go do it. Because if you think about it, you’re probably doing the right thing.”
WLOX News asked Johansen if his family would be able to heal from this.
“This is never going to be right with me no matter how many years this goes on,” he replied. “We’re just doing the best we can to go through the stages of the mourning process. There’s no timeline you can put on anything, you just have to live one day at a time, and we’re going to do that to honor Lauren and I’m going to try my best to stand up for her and do what she would do if she saw this happen with somebody else.”
Rivers’ preliminary hearing is set for July 31st.
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