Preliminary trial date set for Mississippi man accused of killing girlfriend

GULFPORT, Miss. (WSMV) - A preliminary trial date has been set for a Mississippi man accused of murdering his girlfriend a week after bonding out of a Nashville jail.

Bricen Rivers, 23, was set to appear in a Davidson County courtroom on Wednesday for charges stemming from his December arrest, however, he remains in a Mississippi jail and had no legal representation appear on his behalf in Nashville.

Rivers’ preliminary trial date is set for 1:30 p.m. on July 31 at the Gulfport Justice Court in Harrison County. WLOX will have a crew covering the preliminary trial, however, no cameras will be allowed in the courtroom.

He remains jailed on a $1 million bond in Mississippi.

A week after 22-year-old Lauren Johansen was killed, the Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk’s Office admitted to making a mistake that may have cost Johansen her life. The clerk’s office said they signed off on a document allowing Rivers to get out of jail without ensuring he had an ankle monitor.

Johansen and Rivers were on a trip to Nashville in December 2023 when Metro Nashville police said the two got into a fight. That fight escalated to the point that Rivers was charged with aggravated kidnapping and put in jail.

He was jailed for months before a judge lowered his bond, allowing him to get out of jail on Monday, June 24. About a week later, Johansen was murdered, and Rivers was arrested after a six-hour manhunt on July 3.