Authorities are searching for a convicted sex offender on murder charges in the killing of Baltimore tech CEO Pava LaPere.
Jason Dean Billingsley, 32, who was serving 30 years in prison for a sex crime before being paroled last year, is wanted on a charge of first-degree murder in the killing of LaPere at her apartment building, police said Tuesday evening.
“We implore residents to be aware of your surroundings at all times,” acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley said at a news conference. “This individual will kill and he will rape. He will do anything he can to cause harm.”
Police, who said Billingsley is likely armed, said he’s also wanted on charges of assault and reckless endangerment. Investigators haven’t said how they linked him to LaPere’s death.
LaPere, 26, founded the data-curating startup EcoMap Technologies in Baltimore after attending Johns Hopkins University.
She was found dead late Monday morning with what police said were signs of blunt-force trauma to her head.
Worley said she was found “within hours” of being reported missing. Police don’t believe Billingsley and LaPere knew one another, he said, adding that her apartment building was secure.
“Someone had allowed the individual into the building,” Worley said.
LaPere’s company is listed as operating on the lower floor of the apartment building with around 30 employees.
Billingsley pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in 2009, second-degree assault in 2011, and a first-degree sex offense in 2015. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison ― with all but 14 years suspended ― and was released in October 2022 on good-time credits, The Baltimore Banner reported, citing parole commission Chair David R. Blumberg and court documents.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, speaking at Tuesday’s press conference, said Billingsley never should have been out of prison.
“There’s no way in hell that he should have been on the street,” the mayor said. “We are tired of talking about the same people committing the same kind of crimes over and over again.”