Prison Bae Nyla Tomeka Murrell-French Goes Viral

There’s a new “prison bae” in town and her name ain’t Jeremy Meeks. (If you’re not old enough to get 48 Hours references, I apologize. Also, take your a** to school.)

Meet 22-year-old Nyla Tomeka Murrell-French.

When Murrell-French was 19, she was sentenced to seven years in prison for stabbing a 17-year-old girl in the neck leaving her with a collapsed lung and permanent nerve damage during a physical altercation at a gas station in St. Paul, Minnesota. The victim survived but suffered serious injuries, and Murrell-French cried at sentencing but accepted her fate telling the court she was “very remorseful for the mistake” she made. Now, she just appears to be making the most out of her unfortunate situation.

On Christmas day, Murrell-French posted a number of photos to her social media accounts and captioned the posts,  “Merry Christmas from the Pretty Gangsta.”

Now, y’all know how things go on these internet streets. Just like years ago when Meeks’ mugshot went viral and women who couldn’t help but notice he was easy on the eyes made him into a big deal to the point where the attention earned him a modeling contract, Murrell-French has been receiving similar energy as men have flocked to her social media accounts to rave about her “Orange Is the New ‘Damn She Fine‘” photoshoot.

(I realize she’s in gray, not orange, but y’all get the reference.)

Of course, the new “prison bae” sensation is being met with mixed reactions. Some men responded to Murrell-French’s Instagram posts with comments like, “HOW MANY PACK OF NOODLES YOU NEED? I got you ma,” and “What’s her cash app I’m trying to make sure she eat good in there.”

But others on social media took issue with a prison inmate “glorifying” her crime.

“It’s the simple fact you glorifying what you did pretty gangsta?” one Facebook user commented in response to her post. “Ain’t nothing gangsta about what you did then bragging online, kids never learn.”

Several others shared similar sentences.

So, it’s understandable that people are going to have their reservations about someone in prison for a violent crime taking to social media and posting flattering pics of herself, but, come on, people—she’s already in prison.

Are folks really that mad that someone in prison is showing the world that she’s not miserable every second of every day? And is she really “glorifying” anything? Do we really believe anyone is going to want to go to jail after seeing Murrell-French’s posts? I’m just saying, two things can be true at once: She can regret her criminal actions and also still be a young person doing what many young people do—get fly for the Gram. 

Maybe the attention will afford her opportunities after she’s released from prison. Or maybe it’s just a nice escape from being locked up.

What do y’all think of the new “prison bae?” Was she just having fun despite her circumstances, or was she out of line for flexing as a “pretty gangsta?”