...
By Jon Jackson and Rachel Dobkin
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A TikTok star known as "Mr. Prada" was charged with second-degree murder in the death of a Louisiana therapist, authorities said Thursday.
Terryon Thomas, who has more than 4 million followers on two of his multiple TikTok accounts, was arrested on Tuesday by police in Dallas County, Texas.
The body of therapist Nicholas Abraham, 69, of Baton Rouge, was found Sunday in a rolled up tarp near a highway in rural Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, which is approximately an hour's drive northeast of Baton Rouge.
Read More on News
Baton Rouge police reported Thomas fled from them in Abraham's car before he was taken into custody in Texas.
It is unclear what Thomas' relationship to Abraham might have been or the motive for the murder, but the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office said in a news release that "there is no evidence to suggest that Thomas was a client of Abraham."
An arrest warrant from the sheriff's office states that Abraham was seen on surveillance footage entering Thomas' apartment Saturday night and that Abraham was wearing the same clothing as when his body was later discovered.
...
According to witnesses, Thomas was seen hours after entering the apartment, struggling to drag something wrapped in a blue tarp down the building's stairs before placing it in Abraham's car, the warrant said.
When police later searched Thomas' apartment, they found signs of a struggle such as blood "throughout the apartment" and signs that Thomas tried to clean up the mess, according to the warrant.
"It was a very physical and very violent attack," Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Gerald Sticker told local CBS-affiliated station WAFB. "He was bludgeoned about in the head shoulders and neck. There was a lot of bruising what have you."
Thomas is awaiting extradition from Texas to Louisiana. Online booking records in Dallas County did not list an attorney for Thomas.
Abraham's Loved Ones Speak Out
Abraham had three decades of experience treating substance abuse, depression and anxiety and spent several years as a Roman Catholic priest, according to his website.
"Dr. Abraham was a very kind, very tender, very gentle man," Jarret Ambeau, a lawyer who has represented Abraham in legal matters and also a friend to Abraham, told The Associated Press. "No one deserves to die this way, but I would have never expected someone of his disposition to have been violently murdered."
Abraham's brother, Joseph Abraham, told local ABC affiliate WBRZ he was "in shock" over his brother's death. "It wasn't real, and it's still a complexity of emotions that I'm going through right now," he said.
Tommy Abraham, Abraham's other brother, told the station, "I watch the news every night, and I just sit back there and cringe when I hear someone killed somebody. It's just not the way it's supposed to be. It's just not the way it's supposed to be."
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
Update 10/03/24 3:56 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include more information.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines