Louisiana law enforcement officials have charged a TikTok personality in the homicide of a therapist found wrapped in a tarp along a highway about 60 miles northeast of Baton Rouge.
On Thursday, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office announced that it had charged 20-year-old Terryon Thomas, who goes by “Mr. Prada” on his TikTok channel, which has garnered over 4 million followers, with second-degree murder and obstruction of justice.
The body of therapist William Abraham, 69, was discovered by a passerby along Highway 51 just before 8 a.m. on Sept. 29.
The coroner determined that Abraham had died from blunt force trauma, the Tangipahoa County sheriff’s office said.
The statement from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office on Thursday said Thomas is in custody in Dallas and that the relationship between the suspect and the victim is “still under investigation.”
“At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that Thomas was a client of Abraham,” according to the statement.
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Investigators identified a person of interest exiting the vehicle and walking into a store.
A BOLO—“be on the lookout”—warning was issued for the vehicle, and the sheriff’s office released footage of the person of interest, requesting the public’s help in identifying the person. Detectives received information identifying the male in the photographs as Terryon Thomas.
On Monday, the Baton Rouge Police Department located the vehicle and attempted to conduct a traffic stop, which led to a pursuit.
The pursuit ended with Thomas crashing into a vehicle in a parking lot. He was then given a ride back to his residence in Baton Rouge.
When homicide detectives executed a residential search warrant for Thomas’s apartment, they “discovered evidence that indicated a violent physical altercation ensued inside the apartment,” the affidavit said. “A significant amount of blood was observed throughout the apartment, along with multiple sharp objects and other weapons.”
The affidavit said there was also evidence that indicated an attempt to clean up the scene.
Video footage allegedly showed Abraham arriving at Thomas’s apartment complex around 11:00 a.m. on Sept. 28, wearing the same clothes that he was wearing when found deceased on Sunday.
Hours later, according to witness reports, the suspect was seen struggling to drag “an object wrapped in a blue colored tarp” downstairs and into Abraham’s vehicle.
“I appreciate the work done by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana State Police and Crime Lab, Baton Rouge Police Department, U.S. Marshal’s Service and all others involved,” Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said.
“This is an ongoing investigation that will take time to gather further evidence. I hope that this arrest may bring some closure and assurance to friends and family.”
