New details revealed in murder of Baltimore tech CEO Pava LaPere

An “armed” and “extremely dangerous” suspect is on the run after a successful 26-year-old tech executive was found brutally murdered in her apartment in Baltimore.

Pava LaPere was the founder and CEO of EcoMaps Technologies, a custom platform builder for companies, and had featured on Forbes’ “30 under 30” list this year for her social impact on the industry.

On Monday, she was found dead from apparent signs of “blunt-force trauma” inside her apartment in the 300 block of West Franklin Street, police said.

Baltimore Police said that a missing persons call had been placed for the victim, leading officers to her home where she was found at around 11.34am that morning.

Jason Dean Billingsley, a 32-year-old with prior convictions for assault and sex offences, has been named as a suspect in her murder.

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A manhunt is underway for Jason Dean Billingsley, 32, after he was linked to the murder of 26-year-old Pava LaPere, the founder and CEO of EcoMaps Technologies. LaPere’s partially clothed body was found with evident signs of blunt force trauma on the roof of her apartment building on Monday, The Baltimore Banner reports.

Billingsley, who is considered “armed” and “dangerous,” is wanted on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree assault, sex offence and robbery. Baltimore police revealed during a press conference on Tuesday that the suspect is a convicted sex offender with a lengthy criminal history.

Billingsley was released on parole last year following a 2015 conviction on a first-degree sex offence. Mayor Brandon Scott, who knew LaPere through her work as an entrepreneur, criticised the early release, saying it should have never happened.

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Jason Dean Billingsley, a 32-year-old with prior convictions for assault and sex offences, has been named as a suspect in the tech exec’s murder.

He is now wanted on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree assault, sex offence and robbery

Billingsley has previous arrests in 2013, 2011 and 2009 on multiple charges including sex offences, second-degree assault and robbery.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in 2009 and second-degree assault in 2011, court records show.

In 2015, Mr Billingsley was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with 16 years suspended, after he pleaded guilty to a first-degree sex offence, according to court records.

As Baltimore police and the US Marshal’s Service hunt for Billingsley, who is considered “armed and dangerous,” an entire community continues to grapple with LaPere’s death. Karina Mandell, a friend and colleague of LaPere, told The Independent on Wednesday that the tragic loss will have ripple effects in the city that LaPere breathed and loved and worked every day to improve.

“She was a force to be reckoned with. She wanted things to be better, it wasn’t just complaining, she wanted to improve things and challenge the status quo and was unapologetic about it because it was for the right reasons,” Ms Mandell, an entrepreneur herself, said about her friend.

LaPere, originally from Arizona, stayed in Baltimore after graduating from Johns Hopkins University in 2019 with a degree in arts and sociology. She launched her startup, a custom platform builder for companies, from her dorm and went on to build it from the ground up.

Mayor Scott described LaPere as a talented and motivated Baltimorian who always went out of her way to help others.

“It’s really difficult to express the sorrow that I have standing before you today,” he said. “Pava was ... someone I had the opportunity to get to know over the last few years and she would help anyone that she could. And to have that life cut short by someone who has no care about anything but causing harm to people is something that should sit deep in the stomach of all Baltimorians tonight.”

LaPere graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a dual bachelor’s degree in arts and sociology and entrepreneurship and management. She founded her company when she was still at university.

EcoMaps Technologies, according to its website, is a custom platform builder for companies. Forbes reported on LaPere’s “30 under 30” feature that the company with a team of nearly 30 employees had raised over $4m and had big-name clients including Meta and the T.Rowe Price Foundation.

The life of a thriving CEO who was featured in Forbes’ ‘30 under 30’ list for 2023 was cut short under mysterious circumstances.

Baltimore authorities are now hunting for her killer.

Jason Dean Billingsley, 32, is now wanted on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree assault, sex offence and robbery.

It is not clear what connection – if any – the victim and suspect may have to each other.

Billingsley was previously arrested in 2009, 2011 and 2013 on multiple charges including sex offences, second-degree assault and robbery.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in 2009 and was given two years of supervised probation. He violated the terms of his parole and was convicted of second-degree assault in 2011, court records show.

Billingsley served two years over the 2011 conviction and just months after being released in 2013, he was arrested again on attempted rape charges

In 2015, Mr Billingsley was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with 16 years suspended and five years of supervised probation, after he pleaded guilty to a first-degree sex offence. He was released from prison last October on “good-time” credits under former District Attorney Marilyn Mosby, the Baltimore Banner reported.

According to the Maryland Department of Legislative Services, inmates convicted of a violent crime are awarded good conduct credits at the rate of five days per month served.

Billingsley, who is considered “armed” and “dangerous,” faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree assault, sex offence and robbery.

Now, his mother has issued a desperate plea for him to turn himself in.

“I told him to turn himself in because they’re going to kill him,” 72-year-old Scarlett Billingsley told NBC. “I don’t want police to shoot him because they think he has a gun.”

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Baltimore police confirmed on Wednesday that Jason Billingsley has also been linked to an attempted murder, arson and rape on 19 September in the 800 block of Edmondson Avenue — just a 15-minute walk from Pava LaPere’s building.

A $6,000 reward is being offered for information regarding Billingsley’s whereabouts.

“Additionally, detectives are now reviewing all cases since [his release in] October, 2022, to the present day in order to determine any other connections,” the department told The Independent in a statement.

The convicted sex offender wanted on suspicion of the murder of a “30 Under 30” tech executive has been arrested after two days on the run, according to multiple reports.

Sources confirmed to local outlets CBS Baltmore and Fox45 News that Jason Billingsley, 32, had been taken into custody on Wednesday night for the brutal murder of Pava LaPere.

The 32-year-old accused killer – who is also suspected of an attempted murder just one week earlier – was captured just after 11.10pm at the MARC train station on Laurel-Bowie Road in Bowie, Maryland, Fox45 reported.

Baltimore Police have also revealed plans to hold a press conference to “announce arrest of murder suspect Jason Billingsley” at 11am ET on Thursday, local outlet WBAL-TV reported.

Billingsley was named as the prime suspect in the murder of 26-year-old LaPere after her partially clothed body was found with evident signs of blunt force trauma on the roof of her apartment building on Monday.