Popular TikTok star 'Mr. Prada' arrested and charged with brutal murder of Baton Rouge therapist
A popular social media personality is now in police custody and facing serious criminal charges related to the murder of a well-known local mental health therapist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
TikTok star Terryon Ismael Thomas, 20, known to his followers as "Mr. Prada," has been charged with the murder of William Nicholas Abraham, 69, whose deceased body was found under a tarp beside a busy highway last weekend, according to BRProud.com.
Thomas was charged on Monday after being extradited to Louisiana from Dallas, Texas, where he was located as a fugitive from justice by U.S. Marshals following his initial evasion of an attempted arrest in Baton Rouge last week.
Charged with first-degree murder
According to WDSU, Thomas was initially charged with second-degree murder for allegedly killing Abraham but that charge was upgraded on Tuesday to first-degree murder by Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore, ostensibly because of the victim's age.
The suspect has also charged been with obstruction of justice in addition to aggravated criminal damage to property, resisting an officer, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, which stem from his actions last week to avoid arrest by local cops in Louisiana.
An investigation remains ongoing and it is unclear at this time what if any relationship there was between Thomas and Abraham, as Thomas was not one of the therapist's clients, nor what the motive for the brutal murder may have been.
Caught on surveillance video; initially eluded arrest
WAFB reported last week that surveillance video obtained by the Baton Rouge police showed Dr. Abraham entering Thomas' apartment complex Saturday morning but did not show him leaving.
Instead, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office Chief Administrative Deputy Casey Hicks said, "We have witnesses at the apartment complex that saw the suspect dragging what we now believe is the victim’s body."
That body was then found wrapped in a tarp Sunday morning beside a highway and the doctor's car, which had been reported missing, was spotted on Monday at a shopping center where Thomas was caught on surveillance video.
Officers attempted to box in the vehicle and arrest Thomas in the parking lot, but he ultimately drove through a pedestrian breezeway to evade capture, ditched the damaged car, and fled the scene on foot.
Hicks said, "When that information went out to everyone, we had family members that reached out and said he got a ride back to his apartment after the pursuit with BRPD, and somehow he got to the bus station. And from the bus station, he took the bus to Dallas, Texas," where he was later apprehended by U.S. Marshals.
A "very physical, very violent death"
According to WVUE, officials said that Dr. Abraham, a well-known mental health therapist who often appeared on TV and was a former Catholic priest, was killed via "blunt force trauma to the head, neck, and shoulders," and Sheriff Gerald Sticker said there was evidence of a "very physical, very violent death."
The therapist's attorney, Jarrett Ambeau, said he was "absolutely devastated and completely surprised that something like that could have happened to a man who I believed to be so tender, so gentle, and have such a servant’s heart."
It was noted that Abraham had once been accused by a young patient of inappropriate touching in 2015, but no charges ever came following an investigation of the claim, and Ambeau was insistent that Thomas was not the alleged victim in that particular case.