The body of a 28-year-old Texas woman was found stuffed in the trunk of a car after it crashed during a high-speed police chase.
Troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety came across the remains of Briana Teirra Johnson on Saturday while searching a white Honda they’d been following, local ABC affiliate KTRK-TV reported.
Police first noticed the vehicle breaking the speed limit around 7:45 a.m. and tried pulling it over in Beaumont, roughly 85 miles east of Houston.
However, the driver, Victor Campbell Jr., immediately stepped on the gas, leading troopers on a chase that ended with the 35-year-old crashing near the parking lot of a church thrift shop.
Investigators have since obtained surveillance video allegedly showing Campbell backing up Johnson’s car to the door of her Houston home before loading her body in the trunk just before 5 a.m. Saturday, the report said.
Campbell had reportedly covered one surveillance camera at the residence with a sheet, but failed to do the same with a second located on the other side of the property.
Sources told the outlet that he occasionally stayed at Johnson’s house, although the nature of their relationship is unclear.
Campbell, who has several previous charges for family violence, was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after the crash.
He was later booked into Jefferson County jail on charges of evading arrest, driving while intoxicated, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse. Additional charges may follow, police said.
Johnson’s official cause of death has not yet been released, pending a full autopsy.
Friends paid tribute to the Texas Southern University graduate, describing her fine sense of humour and love of make-up that she shared with others on her YouTube channel.
“She was happy,” pal Cierra Kenner told the station. “She always kept me laughing.”
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help with funeral expenses.