Outrage grew Wednesday over the early release of a violent felon who is considered to be armed, "extremely dangerous," and on the run after allegedly killing 26-year-old tech CEO Pava LaPere in her Baltimore apartment on Monday.
Baltimore authorities are looking for Jason Dean Billingsley, a 32-year-old repeat offender who was most recently sentenced in 2015 to 30 years in prison, with 16 years suspended, after pleading guilty to a first-degree sex offense. Billingsley got the green light in October for an early release.
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"There is no way in hell he should have been out on the street," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat, said. "When the police go out and do their job, as they did in this case ... and the state's attorney goes out and does their work, gets the conviction, the conviction should be the conviction. We are tired of talking about the same people committing the same kind of crimes over and over again."
Billingsley is wanted on charges of first-degree murder, assault, and other offenses relating to the death of LaPere.
"This individual will kill and he will rape," Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley warned Tuesday afternoon at a news conference. "He will do anything he can to cause harm."
While his juvenile records are sealed, Billingsley's adult court records reveal a pattern of lawlessness. He pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in 2009. He was given two years of supervised probation but violated the terms of his release. He was convicted in a second-degree assault case in 2011, when he served a two-year prison sentence. In 2013, Billingsley was convicted of a rape attempt. Two years later, he pleaded guilty to a first-degree sex offense and was sentenced to 30 years. He was released seven years later by then-District Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who was backed by Democratic donor George Soros, on "good-time credits," the New York Post reported.
The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services did not respond to a request for comment by the Washington Examiner on Wednesday but told the New York Times that Billingsley, who is listed as a registered sex offender, was not paroled in October 2022 but was released "on mandatory supervision as required by the state."
On Wednesday, WJZ Baltimore said sources close to the LaPere investigation have also linked Billingsley to the Sept. 19 arson at a three-story house in West Baltimore, where a man and woman were critically injured. A 5-year-old was found on a different floor of the home and also taken to the hospital.
As the hunt for their daughter's alleged killer continues, LaPere's family paid tribute to her on social media.
“Pava has been an inspiration to so many people,” her father, Frank LaPere, wrote on Facebook. “She was driven, creative, hard-working, and relentless in her efforts, with her wonderful team at EcoMap Technologies.”
Pava LaPere co-founded EcoMap Technologies, a company that curates data for free platforms. She was featured in Forbes's "30 Under 30" feature for 2023 and was heralded as an up-and-coming visionary.
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Another relative, Ashley Freeman, shared her own tribute to Pava LaPere.
“You think it will never be your family, friend, or even co-worker. The harsh reality is we live in a horrifically sick world, where some people’s only goal is to harm the innocent lives [of] others,” Freeman wrote. “Our family has been affected by a senseless act of violence that took the life of our beautiful, successful, and extremely intelligent Pava. She was on her way to changing the world, but someone took that from her.”