Queer TikTok Influencer Arrested for Murder of Gay Therapist
The popular but controversial influencer was arrested in Dallas after fleeing from police at two separate traffic stops in Louisiana.
Terryon Thomas, a Queer TikTok creator known as “Mr. Prada,” with 4 million followers, has been charged in conjunction with the murder of gay Louisiana therapist William Nicholas Abraham, who was found dead on the side of a Louisiana highway on Sept. 29. Police say Abraham died as a result of blunt-force trauma.
Police in Baton Rouge issued a warrant for Thomas’s arrest on Oct. 1 after he allegedly refused to comply with officers during a traffic stop. The arrest warrant claims that the vehicle Thomas was driving — which had belonged to Abraham — was reported stolen and that Thomas backed into the officers’ car and fled, according to NBC News.
That same day, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office posted to Facebook about a nearly identical traffic stop incident, along with photos of a person of interest who was allegedly the last person to have driven Abraham’s car. The post did not name Thomas but asked for the public’s help in identifying the person in the photos.
Police eventually apprehended Thomas in Dallas on charges stemming from attempting to flee from the police stop, including unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, resisting an officer, and aggravated criminal damage to property.
The 20-year-old is currently awaiting extradition to Baton Rouge and is expected to face charges of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice.
According to an arrest report, while executing a search warrant at Thomas’s apartment, Baton Rouge homicide detectives discovered evidence of “a violent physical altercation.”
Police claimed to have observed a significant amount of blood throughout the apartment, along with multiple sharp objects and other weapons.
Police uncovered surveillance footage of Abraham arriving at the apartment complex where Thomas lived around 11 a.m. on September 28. Abraham was wearing the same clothing in the surveillance footage that he was wearing when his body was discovered wrapped in a tarp on the side of the highway.
Witnesses also allegedly saw Thomas dragging a tarp down the stairs of the apartment complex and loading it into Abraham’s car, according to an affidavit.
Social media posts speculated that Thomas was the person of interest seen driving Abraham’s car, with numerous posts attempting to link Thomas to Abraham’s killing and others speculating on the nature of their relationship.
That speculation only increased after it was revealed that Abraham had been accused of, and charged with, child molestation in 2015.
An 11-year-old patient claimed that Abraham had touched him inappropriately during a therapy session. However, the charges were dismissed due to insufficient evidence, reports The U.S. Sun.
Abraham’s defense attorney from that case said Thomas was not the alleged victim.
The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office told NBC News that there is no evidence to suggest that Thomas was Abraham’s client. The case remains under investigation, and no motive for the murder, or information concerning the relationship between the two men, has been released at this time.
As “Mr. Prada,” Thomas was a well-known but often controversial figure, gaining notoriety for his humorous videos. He was frequently accused of copying from other creators and made now-deleted videos claiming he was unapologetic about replicating or mimicking popular videos from other users, according to Know Your Meme.
Over the past year, Thomas’s followers have expressed concerns for the TikTok influencer’s well-being after he created a post hinting that he was lonely, announced that his name “is not Prada anymore,” and uploaded several videos showing he’d shaved his head and eyebrows.
In May 2023, Thomas joked about “practicing” for his mugshot in one of his videos, turning to the side and posing as one would for a mugshot.
“Practicing for my mug shot cuz this might be the year someone gonna meet God if they piss me off too much,” he wrote in the video’s caption.
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