NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The family of a Mississippi woman who was killed after her ex-boyfriend was released on bond from Nashville has filed a $150 million lawsuit against the bail bonding companies that released him.
Lauren Johansen, 22, was found murdered in Mississippi days after her ex-boyfriend was released from the Metro jail. The lawsuit claims those responsible for his release let him go without him paying his full bond premium and ignored their obligation to the court to keep Johansen safe.
Johansen was a college student at University of Southern Mississippi, working toward her degree as a registered nurse, when she visited Nashville with her then-boyfriend Bricen John Rivers in December 2023.
According to Metro police, Rivers began hitting Johansen as he was driving and took her phone after they left a downtown bar. He eventually stopped the car in a parking lot where the assault continued, according to police, causing the victim to lose consciousness. At some point prior to losing consciousness, Johansen was able to call her parents, who contacted police after she “called them screaming, afraid that her boyfriend may kill her.”…