By Nicole Hensley
Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON — Police for most of Sunday morning searched for evidence at the Houston home of 28-year-old Briana Johnson, whose body was earlier found stashed in a car trunk following a chase in Beaumont.
Johnson’s small dog was left at the home in the 4100 block of Maggie Street, near Scott Street, in the Sunnyside neighborhood, and greeted law enforcement — among them Houston police detectives and Texas Rangers — as they entered to search the duplex.
Johnson was found dead Saturday morning following a police chase in Chambers County that ended with Department of Public Safety troopers arresting 35-year-old Victor Campbell Jr. Inside his trunk, police found her body. The cause and manner of her death on Sunday was not yet known.
Last week, Johnson posted to her Facebook page about a date night in Galveston with Campbell. The two had been in a relationship, investigators believe.
A review of surveillance footage shows Campbell at some point being at the home, investigators said. Campbell is being held on a collective bond of $502,500 at the Jefferson County jail on charges of tampering with physical evidence, evading detention with a motor vehicle and driving while intoxicated, records show.
Police flagged a tossed cigarette and strand of hair outside Johnson’s home as possible evidence. She lived with a roommate, who was waiting outside the home and caring for Johnson’s dog, Cairo, as police combed through the duplex. She was unaware of any issues between Johnson and Campbell, she said.
The chase that led to Campbell’s arrest started around 8 a.m. Saturday with the accused motorist driving recklessly at high speeds along Interstate 10 toward the Beaumont area. The driver fled a state trooper and crashed near Milam Street in Beaumont. He was hospitalized from the crash before being taken to the county jail.
Harris County court records show Campbell was convicted twice — once in 2008 and again 2014 — for felony assault of a family member. He pleaded guilty to a similar charge in 2010 in Fort Bend County.
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