Mr. Prada Case: Charges, Investigation, and Court Status

The Mr. Prada case is paused. Terryon Thomas, the TikTok creator known as Mr. Prada, is charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Baton Rouge therapist William Nicholas Abraham, has pleaded not guilty, and is being held without bond while two court-appointed doctors evaluate whether he is competent to stand trial. His competency hearing, twice postponed, is now set for June 15, 2026, and no trial date has been scheduled.

Where the Case Stands Now

All court proceedings are on hold pending the competency evaluation. Thomas’s attorney, Stephen Sterling III, raised concerns about his client’s mental health, citing a disclosed bipolar disorder diagnosis, and said the evaluation was meant to ensure “there’s no insanity issues or competency issues for him to understand” the proceedings.¹

In October 2025, Judge Fred Crifasi of the 19th Judicial District Court approved the motion and appointed two evaluators: forensic psychologist Dr. Laura Brown of Baton Rouge and clinical psychiatrist Dr. Sarah Deland of New Orleans.² The hearing was first set for January 28, 2026, then continued to March 26, 2026. When that date arrived, the doctors’ reports were not complete, and the hearing was pushed to June 15, 2026.³ The defense has also cited roughly one terabyte of digital evidence as a factor slowing the case.¹

The Charges and Possible Penalties

An East Baton Rouge grand jury indicted Thomas on January 16, 2025, on four counts:⁴

First-degree murder
Obstruction of justice
Aggravated criminal damage to property
Unauthorized use of a motor vehicle

Prosecutors upgraded the initial second-degree murder charge to first-degree on October 8, 2024, relying on Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:30(A)(5), which applies when the victim is 65 or older. The upgrade makes the case death-penalty eligible if the district attorney elects to seek it; otherwise the sentence on conviction is life imprisonment at hard labor without parole.⁵⁶ Thomas was arraigned on January 28, 2025, and pleaded not guilty to all counts.⁷

What Investigators Say Happened

Surveillance footage captured Abraham arriving at Thomas’s Mancuso Lane apartment complex in Baton Rouge around 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 28, 2024. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, witnesses later saw Thomas struggling to drag an object wrapped in a blue tarp down the stairs and load it into Abraham’s vehicle.⁸ Investigators concluded Abraham was killed inside the apartment, where a search later revealed a significant amount of blood, sharp objects, and other weapons.⁹

The next morning, a passerby found Abraham’s body in a ditch along Highway 51 between Fluker and the Village of Tangipahoa, wrapped in a blue tarp and a gray comforter, bound with duct tape, his head covered by a dark towel.¹⁰ The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, neck, and shoulders. Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Gerald Sticker called it a “very physical, very violent death.”¹¹

Thomas took a bus to Dallas, where U.S. Marshals arrested him on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 1, 2024.¹² He was extradited to Baton Rouge by October 7.¹³ The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office has said the motive and the nature of the relationship between Thomas and Abraham remain under investigation, and that there is no evidence Thomas was a client of Abraham’s.⁸

Who William Nicholas Abraham Was

Abraham, 69, was a licensed Baton Rouge mental health therapist and former Catholic priest, often called “Dr. Nick,” who had appeared on cable television as a mental health expert. He was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, on December 28, 1954.¹¹¹⁴

In 2015, Abraham was arrested and booked on one count of molestation of a juvenile after an 11-year-old patient accused him of inappropriate touching during a counseling session.¹⁵ Abraham denied the allegation, and after a two-year review District Attorney Hillar Moore declined to file formal charges, citing insufficient evidence to meet the burden of proof at trial.¹¹ After Thomas’s arrest, online speculation tried to link the two incidents; attorney Jarrett Ambeau, who had previously represented Abraham, stated that Thomas was not the child involved in the 2015 case.¹⁶

Thomas’s TikTok Following

Before the arrest, Thomas had built a large audience on TikTok posting comedy and commentary aimed at a Gen Z audience, on topics like school, relationships, and trends. His following was reported at more than 4 million on one account and as high as 8.2 million across two accounts, with more than 550 million likes.⁹¹⁷ He had operated under several different handles, with earlier accounts reportedly banned for allegedly reposting other creators’ content.¹⁶ No videos have been posted to any of his associated accounts since the arrest.

1
WAFB. TikTok Star Accused of Therapist’s Murder Granted Competency Hearing
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The Advocate. Sanity Commission Appointed in Mr Prada Murder Case
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WAFB. Sanity Hearing for TikTok Star Mr Prada Postponed Until June
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WAFB. Grand Jury Indicts Mr Prada
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WAFB. Mr Prada Charges Upgraded to First-Degree Murder
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Louisiana State Legislature. RS 14:30 – First Degree Murder
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KSLA. TikTok Star Mr Prada Pleads Not Guilty at Arraignment Hearing
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NBC News. Mr Prada Terryon Thomas TikTok Star Explainer
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BBC News. TikTok Personality Mr Prada Arrested in Connection With Therapist’s Death
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KBTX. Therapist Was Violently Killed Inside TikTok Star MrPrada’s Apartment, Warrant Alleges
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KGNS. Therapist Was Violently Killed Inside TikTok Star MrPrada’s Apartment, Warrant Alleges
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NBC DFW. TikTok Star Mr Prada Arrested in Dallas Accused of Louisiana Murder
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WDSU. Louisiana TikTok Star Extradited to Baton Rouge After Dallas Arrest
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McLin Funeral Home. William Abraham Obituary
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The Advocate. Baton Rouge Therapist Accused of Groping 11-Year-Old Boy During Counseling Session
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Forbes. Popular TikToker Terryon Mr Prada Thomas Arrested on Murder Charge
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Fox 8 Live. TikTok Personality MrPrada Sought in Connection With Baton Rouge Therapist’s Death