Police arrested a suspect on Wednesday following a three-day manhunt after the murder of Pava LaPere, a 26-year-old tech leader in Baltimore and Forbes 30 Under 30 member who was found killed in an apartment on Monday.
Jason Dean Billingsley, 32, was arrested late Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder, assault, reckless endangerment and more in relation to LaPere’s death, the U.S. Marshals Service told WBAL.
Billingsley is a registered sex offender who was in prison until last fall, and was believed to be armed and “extremely dangerous” during the manhunt, with Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley saying in a press conference Tuesday, “this individual will kill and he will rape, he will do anything he can to cause harm.”
Billingsley had been arrested in 2009, 2011 and 2013 for charges including a sex offense, second-degree assault and robbery, according to the Baltimore police.
He had been sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2015 for a first-degree sex offense, the Washington Post reported, but 16 years of his sentence were suspended and he was released last October.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott was critical of Billingsley’s release in a press conference announcing the warrant for his arrest, saying he “quite frankly shouldn’t have been out on the streets in the first place.”
LaPere, CEO and co-founder of EcoMap Technologies, was found dead in a Baltimore apartment building Monday around 11:30 a.m., shortly after a missing persons report had been filed for her. She was found with “signs of blunt-force trauma.” Earlier this year, LaPere was highlighted on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for social impact. Her company works with clients to move already existing information onto free, user-friendly platforms—like chatbots—that can answer specific questions, according to its site. According to her 30 Under 30 profile, the company had raised more than $4 million and worked with clients including The Aspen Institute, Meta and the WXR Fund. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University, where she studied sociology and launched EcoMap while she was still a student. In a statement shared to social media, the company said “the circumstances surrounding Pava's death are deeply distressing, and our deepest condolences are with her family, friends, and loved ones during this incredibly devastating time.”