A TikTok star known to his followers as Mr Prada has been arrested in Texas following the gruesome murder of a therapist some 400 miles away in Louisiana.
Terryon Ishmael Thomas was initially wanted on charges of aggravated criminal damage to property, resisting an officer, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle following the death of William Nicholas Abraham, 69.
On Wednesday, he was charged with second-degree murder.
The 20-year-old, who has an online following of 8.2 million people, was reportedly caught driving along in the victim’s vehicle – a black Lincoln MKZ – in Dallas, days after Abraham’s body was found. He was arrested after initially refusing to pull over.
Thomas allegedly backed the car into the police unit before speeding away through a traffic light, crashing the car and getting away from police, according to an arrest warrant.
The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office released surveillance footage stills of Thomas prior to his arrest after labelling him a person of interest.
He was booked into Dallas County Jail on Monday evening, online records show.
Abraham’s body was discovered on Sunday morning at the side of a highway between the unincorporated community of Fluker and the Village of Tangipahoa in Louisiana, according to the sheriff’s office.
His body was rolled up in a piece of tarp and found partially hidden along the road, about 60 miles northeast of Baton Rouge, where detectives said Abraham worked. He had been “violently” beaten to death and head bruises all over his head and neck, police said.
The Tangipahoa Parish Coroner’s Office later confirmed that the preliminary cause of death was homicide and the manner of death was blunt force trauma.
A motive in the killing has yet to be provided by the police, and it is not immediately known whether the victim and Thomas knew each other.
According to a biography on his webpage, Abraham was a life coach, licensed professional counselor, motivational speaker and author. His office was based near the city’s Mid City South neighborhood about seven miles east of downtown Baton Rouge.
Abraham’s family told WBRZ he left home Saturday to clean his car and then said he was going to his office to do paperwork. He told his roommate it would take a few hours, but he never returned.
The Independent has reached out to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, which is handling the case, for further information.
