A Baltimore man has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2023 murder of tech entrepreneur Pava LaPere, authorities said.
Jason Billingsley, 33, pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to three life sentences in prison for LaPere's death, the rape of April Hurley and the attempted murder of Hurley and a male friend.
Billingsley, a habitual criminal, was released from prison after being convicted of first-degree sexual assault and then committed a vicious assault in Baltimore.
These cases prompted changes in the law.
“This defendant should never have been released into society after being convicted of a first-degree sexual offense and causing so much trauma, pain and grief to so many people in such a short period of time,” he said. State Attorney Ivan J. Bates.
“These cases influenced the passage of legislation to eliminate sentence reduction credits for first-degree sex offenders.”
According to Bates, in the early morning hours of Sept. 19, 2023, Billingslea posed as a maintenance staff member and knocked on the door of Hurley and a friend's apartment.
State prosecutors said Billingslea kicked in the door, held down Hurley, sexually assaulted her and slit her throat.
Bates said Billingslea doused the couple and their apartment with an accelerant and set them on fire. Both survived.
Six days later, LaPere was reported missing and police found her body with a brick on the roof of her Mount Vernon apartment.
Security camera footage showed the co-founder of startup EcoMap Technologies getting up from a sofa in the lobby at 10:32 p.m., letting Billingslea in and then getting into an elevator with him.
At 11:08 p.m., Billingsley was seen leaving the building.
The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by strangulation and blunt force trauma.
Laperre was named to Forbes magazine's “30 Under 30” list for her social influence.
She started her eco-company out of her dorm room at Johns Hopkins University.
Family members of Hurley and LaPere appeared with Bates at a press conference Friday announcing the guilty plea and life sentence.
“I experience daily flashbacks and triggers which cause severe anxiety, pain and stress,” Hurley was quoted as saying.
“I'll never be the same person again.”
“If it weren't for God and my will to live, I wouldn't be standing here today,” she said.
