The Louisiana TikTok star accused of killing a therapist now faces the death penalty after the district attorney upgraded the murder charge due to the victim's age.
Terryon Thomas, 20, more widely known on social media as "Mr. Prada," faces a charge of first-degree murder and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of 69-year-old therapist and former Catholic priest William Nicholas Abraham of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, according to authorities.
East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore said the murder charge was upgraded from second-degree because of Abraham's age, WVLA-TV reported.
The new charge opens the possibility of the death penalty if a conviction is secured, depending on whether prosecutors choose to take that approach, officials said according to KADN.
Under Louisiana law, murder is considered first-degree "when the offender has the specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm upon a victim who is under the age of twelve or sixty-five years of age or older."
Thomas was slapped with the enhanced charge during his initial appearance in an East Baton Rouge, Louisiana courtroom Tuesday, a day after he was extradited from Dallas, according to the Associated Press.
A judge appointed Thomas a public defender, WAFB-TV reported.
According to the arrest warrant reviewed by the Lawyer Herald, detectives began their investigation Sept. 29, when they allegedly discovered Abraham's bloodied body wrapped in a gray comforter concealed in a blue tarp, tossed on the side of a highway in Fluker, Louisiana.
An autopsy revealed he died as a result of blunt force trauma.
Detectives learned Abraham's SUV was also missing and tracked it down to Baton Rouge, where they allegedly encountered Thomas behind the wheel. He allegedly led police on a pursuit that ended when he crashed the vehicle in Dallas.
During a search of Thomas' apartment, detectives alleged there was evidence to indicate a violent altercation ensued. Blood, "multiple sharp objects and other weapons" were allegedly recovered, according to police documents.
A review of apartment surveillance footage allegedly showed Abraham arriving at Thomas' residence the day before his body was found. He was wearing the same clothes he was purportedly killed in.
A witness alleged to investigators they later on saw Thomas struggling to drag an object wrapped in a blue tarp into the victim's vehicle.
Thomas was not Abraham's patient and authorities are looking into the relationship between the pair, according to WBRZ-TV.
A motive remains under investigation.
