BATON ROUGE, La. — Charges have been upgraded against a TikTok personality accused of killing a Louisiana therapist, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Terryon Thomas, 20, also known as “Mr. Prada was originally charged with second-degree murder and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of Dr. Nick Abraham, 69, of Baton Rouge charged.

The charge was upgraded to first-degree murder under a Louisiana law that allows for a more serious charge if “the perpetrator has the specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm on a victim who is younger than 12 or 65 years of age.” “, news agencies reported.

The new charge allows the case to face the death penalty if convicted should prosecutors decide to pursue that case strategy, officials said.

Thomas was arrested in Dallas on Oct. 1 after Baton Rouge police said he fled from them in Abraham’s car. He was extradited to Louisiana and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Monday.

Jail records did not indicate whether Thomas has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Thomas’ relationship to the victim remains unclear and no motive for the killing has been given.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Department, citing surveillance video, said Abraham was last seen alive around 11 a.m. on Sept. 28 when he entered Thomas’ apartment.

“We have witnesses at the apartment complex who saw the suspect dragging the victim’s body,” said Chief Administrative Deputy Casey R. Hicks.

Abraham’s body, wrapped in a tarp, was found Sept. 29 along a highway in rural Tangipahoa Parish, which is east of Baton Rouge and north of New Orleans.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said its investigators searched Thomas’ home and found evidence that a violent physical altercation occurred there. It was said they found several sharp objects, weapons and a lot of blood. The blood test from the Louisiana State Crime Lab matched Abraham.

“We have a DNA match at the suspect’s residence for the victim and believe that may be where the crime occurred,” Hicks said.

The sheriff’s office said the investigation was ongoing, but added there was no evidence that Thomas was one of Abraham’s customers.

“We have search warrants, we have search warrants to collect additional evidence to get more information in this case. “While we probably have grounds to charge him with murder, we still have a lot of evidence to collect,” Hicks said.

Two of Thomas’ numerous TikTok accounts each have more than 4 million followers, particularly among people between the ages of 18 and 24. In his social media content, he typically presented observations on trends, school, and other topics.

A biography of Abraham on his website says he has 30 years of experience treating substance abuse, depression and anxiety. It was also said that he spent eleven years as a Roman Catholic priest.

“Dr. “Abraham was a very kind, very gentle, very gentle man,” said Jarret Ambeau, a Baton Rouge attorney who has represented Abraham in legal matters and counts him as a friend. “No one deserves to die this way, but I never expected someone with his disposition to be violently murdered.”