Jefferson County Sheriff\'s Office Victor Campbell
A police chase in Jefferson County, Texas, ended with a grisly discovery as police processed the vehicle and found a body in the trunk of the car. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Lt. Chuck Havard, Victor Campbell Jr., 35, wrecked his vehicle during a police chase and police soon discovered the body of 28-year-old Briana Johnson, his girlfriend, in the trunk of the car, KFDM reported.
The police chase took place on Saturday morning at around 8 a.m. when DPS troopers began a pursuit of a vehicle driving recklessly. The chase ended when the driver lost control of the vehicle after hitting a concrete barrier, police said. The driver, identified as Campbell, was taken to the hospital while troopers processed the vehicle and found Johnson’s body.
Public records show that Campbell is facing charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, driving while intoxicated and felony evading arrest but may be charged with additional felonies following an investigation.
An Autopsy Will Take Place & a Homicide Investigation Is Ongoing
According to Havard, the police chase began after DPS officers were alerted to a reckless driver on Interstate 10 East traveling from Chambers County. A DPS trooper who was on a routine patrol spotted the white Honda that was speeding eastbound on the interstate and turned on the lights to pull over the vehicle.
DPS Sgt. Stephanie Davis stated that the vehicle began moving right as though to pull over but then sped away, KFDM reported. The driver hit a concrete barrier while driving toward Milam St. in Beaumont, Davis said, and lost control of the vehicle, eventually ending up in the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Treasure House resale shop parking lot.
According to ABC13, investigators were able to get video from the duplex where Johnson lived that shows Campbell covering one of the cameras with a sheet, but not the other. In that video, Campbell can be seen backing up his car to the door and putting Johnson’s body in the trunk at around 4:55 a.m. on Saturday morning, ABC13 reported.
Campbell was taken to jail after his release from the hospital. A full autopsy will take place and the cause of death has not yet been released.
Johnson Had Recently Posted About Her Date Night With Campbell & Her Family Is Searching for Answers
Just days before her body was found in his trunk, Johnson posted photos with Campbell that she captioned, “Date night” with a heart emoji. According to her Facebook bio, Johnson is a Los Angeles native who lived in Houston and studied administration of justice at Texas Southern University.
She had also recently posted a photo of herself voting in the 2020 election with a woman identified by friends and family as Campbell’s mother. Campbell’s profile indicates that he’s also from California but lives in Houston.
Johnson’s aunt set up a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral expenses and to bring her body back to California. On the fundraiser, she wrote, “On Saturday November 28th the unimaginable happened to my family, my niece Briana Tierra Johnson at the young age of 28 was senselessly murdered. As of now we don’t have many answers or much information but we do know we have to prepare to bring my niece home and lay her to rest.”
She described Johnson as “the sweetest person in the world and if you knew her I know she left her mark in your life. She didn’t deserve this and we will never understand it.”
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