A popular TikTok personality has been named as a person of interest in the death of a 69-year-old therapist whose body was discovered Saturday wrapped in a tarp on a highway outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Terryon Ishmael Thomas, 20, aka Mr. Prada, was arrested in Dallas Tuesday after a brief manhunt, according to a Louisiana Fox affiliate. He was spotted driving a vehicle that belonged to the victim, William Nicholas Abraham. Instead of stopping for law enforcement, Thomas backed into a police cruiser and fled on foot.
He was later caught on surveillance cameras at a nearby store. Details of his apprehension in Texas have not been made available.
Police believe Thomas was the last person to see Abraham alive. If and how they knew each other has not been established, and a possible motive remains unclear.
“It was a very physical and very violent attack,” Tangipahoa Sheriff Gerald Sticker told television station WAFB. Abraham died from blunt force trauma.
Sticker said police are still trying to piece together details of the popular therapist’s death.
No weapons were found along the road where the body was left, and the sheriff said a search of Abraham’s home in East Baton Rouge Parish turned up no signs of foul play.
“Right now, we have no inclination as to where this originated,” Sticker said. Police believe Abraham was killed sometime Saturday night.
“I want to know who did it, and I want to know why,” the victim’s brother, Tommy Abraham, told WBRZ.
“No one should take a life but God. No one,” Tommy Abraham continued. “He’s the only one that can take a life, and for someone to take someone else’s life, you’re a coward.”
Abraham was a well-known figure in Baton Rouge, where he hosted a local television show. Before becoming a therapist, he served 14 years as a Catholic priest in Mississippi and Milwaukee.
According to his website, Abraham was a “trailblazer” who also worked as a life coach and motivational speaker. He specialized in treating substance abuse, anxiety and depression and worked with the LGBTQ community.
“He was kind, loving, a gentle man and frankly not the kind of man that something like this would’ve happened to,” said Abraham’s attorney, Jarret Ambeau. “I’m absolutely devastated and completely surprised that something like that could’ve happened to a man who I believe to be so tender and so gentle and have such a service heart.”
But Abraham’s past had a dark cloud. He was arrested in 2015, East Baton Rouge Parish court records revealed, for allegedly touching an 11-year-old boy inappropriately during a therapy session.
Abraham was never charged in the incident.
The boy’s identity is not known but, if still alive, he would the same age as Thomas. Ambeau, who represented William Abraham in the 2015 case, has told reporters Thomas is not the alleged victim from the case.
In one recent video, Thomas, who has 4 million followers, declared, “I’m bipolar… you’ll never see anybody that’s bipolar before? I was trying to hide it, but it just slipped out.”
In another video, Thomas erratically shaves his head, leaving patches of hair.
Last week, he announced he had just gone through a breakup and was seen wearing smeared eyeliner before ripping his shirt off.
“Life is a prison, get me the f*** out,” Thomas said in another recent post.
Thomas will now go before a judge in Dallas to determine whether he will be extradited to Louisiana to face charges of aggravated criminal damage to property, resisting an officer and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
