Violence, Drugs and Guns
The Terrifying Story of an Online Romance
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Violence, drugs, and guns. These were the silent passengers riding along with thirty-nine-year-old James Larson, Jr. when he picked up thirty-year-old Preacious Brower in Kansas City, Missouri. Only she didn’t know it. All Preacious knew was that the man she had met online through Facebook Dating a couple of days before had seemed “pretty cool.” She looked forward to getting to know him as they drove the forty-five minutes to his father’s house at Lake Arrowhead.
It was Thursday, May 12, 2022.
By Friday, May 13, she thought he might kill her. Preacious thought maybe it was all the drugs he was using. Out of the blue, he punched her. He kicked her with his steel-toed boots. He hit her in the head with an ice pick and cut her with a bowie knife. He cut her hair and took away her dentures and glasses. James Larson, Jr. had turned into a monster.
The more drugs he did, the worse he became. He wouldn’t let Preacious leave. Larson refused to let her use the bathroom or give her anything to eat or drink. He made her clean up her own blood. She said he gave her a drink that “tasted like medicine.” He threatened to slit her throat if she called the police. She was terrified to stay and scared to try to leave.
After two days, on March 14, she managed to escape after Larson fell asleep. She ran to a neighbor’s house who, horrified by her injuries, immediately called 911. Preacious was taken to the hospital while law enforcement went next door to deal with Larson, Jr. But the person they met was his father.
A Father’s Tale
James Larson, Sr. said that his son had been staying with him for about a week and a half. Junior had been released from an Oklahoma prison in March 2022, where he had spent most of the last eight years. He gradually made his way north to Lake Arrowhead. He planned to stay in a camper he owned on some nearby property, but it burned to the ground shortly after he arrived. So Junior went to Dad’s.
Senior said that he thought his son was a “changed man” and had no problem letting him crash at his place. This hope, he said, lasted for about a week. He and his nephew, Donny Larson (who was also staying there), had met…
