In this episode of “True Crime News,” Ana Garcia speaks with the family of Lauren Johansen after Lauren’s abusive ex, Bricen Rivers, allegedly beat her to death. They say the system failed to protect her, and her father is continuing to fight for justice in her name. Plus, former model and small-town beauty Tara Lambert thought she could get away with plotting the murder of her stepchildren’s biological mother, but her own words would ultimately seal her fate.
The model who hired a hit man | Full Episode

This is similar to what happened to Alyssa (I’m sorry I can’t remember her last name but I remember her beautiful blue eyes) her story has been on several YT channels) she had a daughter & was sharing custody with the biological father, things were amicable until he started dating a woman named Holly who hated Alyssa & wanted her killed; raising their 2 year old daughter, Willow, together. Holly talked him into killing Alyssa, he put a shotgun up to her driver side window & pulled the trigger but Alyssa was still alive (her left eye & left side of her face was blown away by the shotgun blast) she tried desperately to get out of her car & head towards her workplace but he followed her, pulling a knife out & stabbing her over 60x 💔 Naturally he was caught & he confessed, they also tracked down Holly, who had moved to another State & was married !! She received a life sentence too. I’m giving these details as I’m sure someone else remembers Alyssa’s story. I wish someone would’ve saved Alyssa’s life 🙏🏼🕊️🤍
I don’t understand why these girlfriends want the ex dead & go to the extreme to make sure that happens 🤷🏼♀️😔
It is unbearable to know that Lauren died to save others 💔
Judge in NYC listened to me and I was in a much better situation. I am very grateful. Bail companies make ridiculous money. They need to be held accountable too.
Let me guess, an activist, liberal judge?
OMG,so sorry for your lost
Who posted his bail??
Why aren't these judges being held accountable for their mistakes? You have a violent white individual and use the privilege card and release him on bond. The system is broken and there is NO coming back, its beyond repair.
So incredibly maddening about Lauren's case. That judge & department should be ashamed of themselves! Unbelievable! I hope they are reminded of Lauren every single time they go to sleep.
My heart breaks for her family. Her Dad is amazingly strong!
#LaurensLaw
🤍🕊🙏🏼
About Tara's case, what a joke on her sentence. I mean, thank heaven her "friend" had the right mind to go to the cops. She's a hero in my opinion. She saved Kellie from being unalived.
I just wish we would've heard about what her husband knew or didn't know. Obviously they are divorced now. But I'm just curious as to what his knowledge was.
Wait you mean to tell me that his bail money in the pockets of government officials, was nore important than the safety of that poor girl? No way! Not here in America! They care about their people( loads of sarcasm) this country is a fkn joke. Arm yourselves people. Bc its gonna come down to us bringing our own justices to s close.
The Judge needs to lose his job. After seeing those photos, how could he?
The 2nd story, she seemed most annoyed that her calls were recorded!
What terrible miscarriage of justice!
But I know having a stepmom doesn’t always mean the definition of mom either
I mean, or an adoptive parent, you know even people that are adopted into a couples home like a man and a woman
Doesn’t mean that they define the word, Mom
I mean, you can’t plot to kill the person who they think is “Mom “and then expect to be that person‘s mom from now on
You know I find you can only take the place of the child’s biological mother
Only if biological mom is not in their life basically and they don’t seem to really bother with them
They just don’t seem to really care too much about their children
That’s when the stepmom comes in and becomes a mom figure
Half the time and then the children will start to call their stepmom “ Mom “
Because she is defining that word she is defining what a mom is
But not this woman this Tara is not defining what Mom really means
In reality, she’s not defining what Mom really stands for
Or at least she didn’t start out that way
That’s what I mean she chose her hate and that
She could’ve just decided in from the beginning to find another man and then have a child of her own
Well, it serves her damn right, you know, but
That’s five years time that she could’ve had with her family like with her mom and dad and other family members
But she chose hate, and then she lost five years that she could’ve
Easily modeled, you know she could’ve easily had vacations
She could’ve had anything that she wanted you know
She could’ve been modelling for clothing for a local business that was opening
You know, and because knowing that she would’ve gotten paid pretty good
She could’ve went on nice vacations and easily gotten rid of the feeling of hate just by enjoying a nice vacation
Away from everything you know just so then she can be happy and
She will feel better about herself and about everything else
But she chose not to five years is a long time, but
It doesn’t seem very long I mean, even myself in five years
I may not have done much, but I have done a little bit here and there within the five years
You know, even just a little things with the wee wee wee wee little things it doesn’t have to be much
But little things done in five years it actually turned out to be a lot in the end
And by spending five years in jail, you know you’re not really doing anything but sitting in the box most of the day
You’re only probably allowed out every half an hour or an hour at least
Your phone calls are very limited to like less than a minute and even the phone calls are recorded
So yeah, you don’t get very much privacy when you’re on the phone or anytime in jail
Jail is basically like being in Lauren’s shoes jail was basically like having a boyfriend like Bryson
Who doesn’t allow you any freedom you can’t get away from him and if you do, he’ll find a way to get to you eventually
The only difference is you couldn’t only go to the other side of the room in jail
When you’re out in public, you can do as far as you want away from that person
But in jail, you’re stuck behind concrete walls so in a way it’s like having an abusive partner
That you can’t, you will never ever ever have the choice in the end
To just open the door and leave you know even if it’s just quietly you know
You can open the door, but it’s very hard to get past the guards who stand outside of the door
Right so at least if you’re in the community, you have an easier time
You can choose whether you are a prisoner or whether you would like to be free and live on your own terms
You know you can choose if you have enough or not, When you were in your own house or in public, you don’t have to put up with that
But when you’re in jail time is ticking and everything just seems to stop
And you can’t do much you know so yeah, five years of Tara’s life would be wasted
You know it’s I heard it’s not fun being in jail
I mean, I remember when I was shown what jail looked like
Well, I couldn’t even go in there. He just opened the cells and then the smell.
That alone was enough for me to at least get like some help
And get on some medication that would help decrease the agitation and
Because I didn’t have the choice I don’t have the choice. Still, you know when I get angry I will become enraged and then I get violent
But it’s not because I have a choice. It’s just that it happens my brain won’t allow me to make a choice
You know, and I still feel that way so instead of
Going out somewhere and just not thinking about it
I am always prepared now to see things that I don’t like
So when I do feel those urges and thoughts, hopefully
Depending on what is happening, I could remove myself from the situation
You know, hopefully if I see somebody being rude to cashier hopefully I don’t
Take a Tim Hortons can of coffee from the shelf in the lineup and then whack the person in the head from behind
You know it’s so much easier to do that. Trust me.
But there are some things that I will get violent over
Like if I see a person, bullying and saying mean things to another person
Then that is a quick different situation if I hear somebody calling somebody stupid and worthless
And that they’re retarded that I will go up to the person
And give him shit or her shit for that doesn’t matter if they phoned the police
You know, I probably won’t get in that much trouble
Once I tell them that you know, especially once I tell them that
You know, I often see you on your Instagram that people, rob local businesses and do all these horrible things
You guys are spending your days trying to teach people not to do these things and that’s why they go to jail
But it doesn’t really benefit the person anymore. It doesn’t really teach him anything.
They can care less so I feel bad by calling them a piece of shit and
Saying how retarded and useless they are you know
Sometimes they don’t feel that same pain
Honestly, you can’t learn anything by sitting in the box
These days it’s like if you get robbed by somebody and somebody robbed
Something out of your vehicle if you know what vehicle they drive
Then you go to the back of their vehicle and take something that is valuable to them
Yeah, take their computer or take their car keys so then they can’t drive off
Take a knife and pop their tires you know that will teach him
I mean, a true mother the definition of Mom is
To love your child unconditionally and discipline them and try to teach him what is right and wrong
To be a real real real good role model for them you know
You don’t have to be the birth mother to do that
I know nobody saying that the birth mother is a biological mom
I mean, they can be your biological mother, but that doesn’t make them a “biological mom. “
The definition of Mom is the as the definition of Dad
Basically, and that doesn’t mean you have to be a birth mom or dad
Doesn’t mean you have to literally give birth to that child
She could’ve just gotten married and had a child of her own
And then she would have moved on, that’s the thing people choose to have a hate for other people
People would rather act on hate rather than move on from it and try to heal
I mean since she was not the biological mother
She could have dated somebody else and married that person and then had a child that was her own
She didn’t have to you know, plot to kill the biological mother of her step children
In order to become their mom because in true, this is a true reality and it’s a true fact
You can take place of somebody’s biological parent
You know you can get rid of the father and the mother or even everyone in the family
In order to claim their daughter or son as your own
But and you can love and cherish them all you want
That doesn’t make you a true mom or a dad
Tara, I remember that case I remember watching it
She served only five years and then got out and then got remarried, and then had a child of her own
Why didn’t she do that from the start?
Why did she have to come up with a plot to kill the biological mother of her step children and lose her freedom and then figure out that she could just find a new man and the move on with her life?
I mean, people don’t think people don’t have any brains
People need to start thinking about their choices
And not let their hate and dislike of another person ruin their life
I like him callng out the judge. By name.
Alot of judges just don't care. Its obvious.
Yeah, is somebody was yelling at the cashier because they got angry and was throwing things at the cashiers and at the employees
Working at the Tim Hortons or the McDonald’s
I would probably not want to get even close to that person
But let’s just say you know if a person was going up to some random person whether it’s a customer
Or an employee and calling them a retard or using the N-word telling them
That they don’t belong that they’re worthless, especially if they called them a Karen
Then I would definitely get into that person‘s face and then
Start calling them out you know
But nope, my dad never did that
Usually, when you don’t expect it when you don’t think that somebody would do something like that that’s when they do that
That’s when things happen but when you feel like you can see the person and you know that
They are quick to get angered and that and you thinking in your mind
Well, my dad or mom is gonna get physically beaten up by his or her spouse
And then before you know, it just doesn’t happen. The person just accepted and that’s it.
Right I mean that is the way it goes usually the people who you least expect to be beaten up their spouse over something like that
That’s when they normally would do something like that
So in a way it’s really in my point of view a life lesson
No matter what you gotta be prepared, even if you think
Oh, this person is so nice here she would never hurt the one they love, even in the worst situation
You know it’s kind of God way of giving you a life lesson
To always be prepared, even if you don’t expect it at the time
Right so when it does happen, you’re able to at least
Tell the police that you think it’s your friends husband or a boyfriend
But you’re not too sure like I don’t know. It’s just good to be prepared.
Because you know it’s good to always know that everybody has a dark side
And everybody gets an anger that’s a normal human reaction
And when you get angry, you tend to use your fist and react in a violent way
Because it’s your brain telling you to release the anger
And sometimes your brain tells you to do it in a negative way
And then by the time you’re done, it’s like oh shit what have that? What the hell have I done?
You know that’s why it’s good to go to a class for anger that’s what I did
Although I don’t think it helped it kinda did, but it kinda didn’t help
I mean, I still feel them urges to someone somebody is
This video is missing information. "How" did he even get close to her to do what he did after he was released?
I mean this Lauren woman could’ve been dating a guy name Lee
And the same outcome could’ve happened you know, I mean, I don’t wanna think that everybody with my name
Is going to hurt anybody or lash out if they don’t want that person to leave you know
Because don’t get me wrong, everybody would want their friends to spend the whole night with them
You know there’s a lot of people out there that have killed their girlfriends and or boyfriends
But some of them might’ve not wanted them dead
Sometimes they might have just reacted in the moment because especially in the states
It’s so much easier when you hear somebody saying that they’re going off the college and that
Or there not in love with the person anymore, but they just want to be friends
It’s so much easier for the person to pick up a gun or knife in the heat of the moment
And then chase the person around the room or something
And then stab them then it is to just take a moment to understand
That this person is not leaving me. This person is still gonna be my friend.
So in that case, we will get to have outings together and we will get to hang out
That only takes less than a minute to sit on your bed, cry about it you know
Cause the person who’s crying it may seem like forever
But in reality, it only probably takes about like 30 seconds or more
But not more than a minute to cry, she just blow your eyes out
And then, after when you release all them emotions, then you can understand
You could have time to process and then try to understand but
I mean, my mom and dad have been married for 30 years and then they’re legally separated and they have been for quite a few years
And I never thought my dad would’ve understood or would’ve dealt with it the same like he did
But he did deal with it the way a man should deal with it
You know like she could’ve went over to my mom‘s chair and beat the crap out of her
You know because she’s the one who opened up to him that she wasn’t in love with him eventually
And because he said that she was the only person he will ever love
You would think that that would be the old justification for beating your wife until they’re black and blue, you know
Just the old confession of the police here on a daily basis
That my wife and or husband just basically stated that he she wasn’t in love with me anymore
So I lashed out and I punched her in the face and then I just kept doing it
Over and over and over again, you know the same old justification that the police would hear every day
You know
My name is Leigh and there was another guy who played on that Barry integrated baseball league
His name was Lee and I never thought that he had any history of violence or doing anything to hurt anybody
That being said, I know everybody has a dark side I mean when people get angry
And sometimes when people get bored, they make bad choices like they’re going rob a bank or they go
Do something that’s not very good out of boredom, so I’m not saying that people in general do not make bad decisions
But this Lee person got kicked off the league and apparently his sister Carrie, which is my friend
Told me that he gotten to some really bad trouble and apparently she wasn’t allowed to talk about it
And then when I asked her, is it because you don’t want to talk about it
Or is it because the police advise you not to?
She said I’m pretty sure that she said the police told her not to
The only reason I said that is because normally when people don’t tell you that stuff
Right it’s because I either don’t want to talk about it
Or they get advised from the police that that’s the only two reasons
That a person will not talk about it, right
And you know, I even went to her house I remember that
And she had a cat at the time as well, and I remember sitting with her and petting the cat
So this is a very familiar scene like I highly doubt that it’s the same person
But you never know I guess, but my friend Lauren had a cat when she was in elementary school
And then this Lauren has a cat I mean, I don’t think this is the same person because
For one thing, this person is in high school like she was probably middle age high school or just finishing high school
And that Bryson she’d totally date a guy with that name for sure
I can see her dating somebody named Bryson. I don’t know. It’s just seems like a kind of name for a man that she would date you know
Then again, there’s lots of Bryson’s out there you know probably quite a few few of them
I mean, doesn’t mean that everybody with that name is a bad person
It’s like the name, Lee I mean, I have a pretty harsh side of myself too
You know, there are lots of things that set me off, I mean without my medication
And if I was deeply in love with somebody and obsessed with them
I probably wouldn’t let them leave either and I probably
Would react in a violent away you know if I didn’t want them to leave
Because she probably would’ve put him in the similar position that he put Lauren through
I remember, I think grade 4 or grade 5 I had a friend named Lauren piggin and he was alright for a friend
You know I mean, she wouldn’t have been my first choice to be in a classroom with
But once I got to know her, I would say she was pretty darn nice
I would say we got along pretty good you know
If that was Judge Judy on the stand, I mean, even if he didn’t get jail time
I mean, he would’ve gotten a lot worse from her. I can tell you that.
She’ll do it again
😏” Jenny”
And they JUST approved a DV database for Tennessee yesterday – which means nothing if they don't prosecute the abusers and give them slaps on the hand.
This is absolutely disgusting and i am so sorry for the family loss. As a Tennesseean and survivior myself (because of myself and family, NOT the law, though I DO give credit to a local judge who did prosecute a violent stalker I had – even though the SYSTEM only gave him a year behind bars) this is BEYOND inexcusable.
I will absolutely do what I can as a citizen to help spread the word about Lauren's law.
Father's a surgeon? He looks like a plumber. That's why they had him wear scrubs
Wow what's wrong with your system 😮 first someone is let out and kills his victim and then someone that wants to kill someone is getting out free?????
Arrest the judge for gross negligence! AWFUL
Do we know why the Dr is always wearing scrubs?
Disgraceful. Everyone involved should be in jail.
How did Tara Lambert imagine this would end — with a wood chipper and a Walmart receipt? She outlines a murder plan with chilling ease, only to blend into everyday life minutes later.
Is it a possibility to sue the judge who release that monster? Maybe if the judge goes to jail it will teach a lesson to others. How could anyone give a bond to person so violent? Is she out of her mind?