Colter Thomas story: His crime, imprisonment, and release

Colter Thomas goes by @mamas.boy1.0 on TikTok and is doing quite well on the platform with an ever-growing following. Thomas is not your conventional TikTok star – he hasn’t made it big by posting viral dances or funny clips. Colter’s popularity stems from a backstory that involves imprisonment for nearly 20 years for a crime committed before he was a teenager. 

Thomas is an ex-con, and most of his content revolves around his crime. He posts videos talking about the crime, attracting comments supporting his actions or criticizing him for ending another person’s life. 

This piece looks at Colter Thomas’ story. 

Colter Thomas claims he was 12 years old when his older sister came home with blood stains and claimed that their family friend, Carl Doty, had raped her. Carl, aged around 17 or 18, was Colter’s friend, and they often hung out together.

Thomas adds that he rounded up four of his friends, armed himself with a crowbar, and set out for revenge. Colter and his friends inflicted injuries on Carl that killed him three days later. 

“I didn’t think about anything,” Thomas said in a video posted on 10th May 2022. “I felt like I saw a problem that needed to be removed.”

Colter says that he was a mess when he avenged his sister. “I was really scared – panic attack, super overwhelmed, I was breathing heavily,” he added. “When you are faced with doing that and after the fact, dealing with the visual of that – it was really overwhelming.”

“I didn’t think it over.” Police swiftly linked the murder to Colter and his friends and put him on trial for battery with attempt to commit a serious felony. 

The judge sentenced Colter Thomas to 19 years in prison. While incarcerated, he lost his sister (1995) and his mother (2010). Thomas was released in 2014, 20 years older and covered in tattoos, and unremorseful about his actions. 

Colter Thomas pronounced Carl Doty guilty and sentenced him to death. Thomas declined to say whether he would repeat his crimes, allegedly because he doesn’t want law enforcement to monitor him. 

Colter describes himself as a sexual assault advocate, donning most of his posts with the hashtags #sexualassaultawareness and #sexualassaultsurvivors. 

It is near impossible to find Colter’s case online as it dealt with a minor. The information we have on the matter and Colter’s subsequent incarceration comes from his social media content. 

It is pretty difficult for ex-offenders to find employment due to factors like limited work experience and employer bias. Colter faced similar problems, and early on in his social media career, he relied on donations from his followers. 

He also landed several blue-collar jobs, including a homemaking gig. Via a video posted on the account @TheColt_ on 15th December 2020, Colter expressed emotion at his boss’ words of encouragement. 

“I’m kinda emotional right now,” he said. “My boss taught me how to do something today, and he stopped a phone call he was having to tell me he’s proud of me. I haven’t heard that in a long time. Thank you.”

Thanks to Colter’s rapid growth on TikTok, he can earn extra money through social media. He’s qualified for earnings through TikTok’s Creator Fund but doesn’t agree with the functioning of TikTok’s algorithm. 

A July 2021 article by Business Insider stated that earnings from the Creator Fund increase with the number of views; creators earn more from viral videos. 

In a video posted on 11th May 2022, an angry Colter alleged unfair discrimination by TikTok. He claimed that TikTok finds ways to subvert paying him for viral content. Colter further alleged that TikTok tries to silence creators talking about sexual assault.