Baltimore man sentenced to life in prison for strangling, beating tech CEO found dead on apartment roof

A Baltimore man has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to strangling and beating a tech company CEO who was found dead on the roof of her apartment building in September 2023.

Jason Billingsley pleaded guilty in connection with the death of 26-year-old Pava La Pere and to two counts of attempted murder in a separate incident, the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office said in an Aug. 30 news release. He was sentenced to three life terms in prison, with two of the sentences to run concurrently.

LaPere, who was the founder and CEO of EcoMap Technologies, was found dead on the roof of her apartment building on Sept. 25, 2023, prosecutors said. Co-workers reported her missing, saying they last saw her at a festival on Sept. 22, 2023.

Surveillance footage from LaPere’s apartment building showed her letting a man, later identified as Billingsley, into the lobby late one night and the two getting on an elevator together, prosecutors said. Less than 30 minutes later, Billingsley can be seen “running around the exit and wiping his right hand on his shorts,” according to the release.

According to prosecutors, the medical examiner ruled LaPere’s death a homicide, with her cause of death being strangulation and blunt force trauma.

Once investigators identified Billingsley as a suspect, they learned he was also wanted in connection with a rape, attempted murder and arson that occurred days before LaPere’s killing.

On September 19, 2023, April Hurley was awakened by a knock on her basement apartment door. Prosecutors say the man at her door was Billingsley, who identified himself as a maintenance worker. He then kicked down the door and held Hurley and her friend at gunpoint.

Prosecutors said Billingsley immobilized the couple with handcuffs and tape before sexually assaulting Hurley and slashing her throat with a knife. He then set the apartment on fire. Hurley and her friend suffered second- and third-degree burns and both were in serious condition when they were taken to the hospital, according to prosecutors.

“This defendant should never have been released into society after being convicted of a first-degree sex offense that caused so much trauma, pain and sadness to so many people in such a short period of time,” said State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates.

A previous statement provided to PEOPLE by the Baltimore Police Department detailed that Billingsley was arrested in 2013, 2011 and 2009 on multiple charges, including “criminal sex offense, second-degree assault and robbery.”

Following LaPere’s death, EcoMap Technologies said in a statement on Facebook that she was “not only the visionary behind EcoMap, but also a deeply compassionate and dedicated leader.”

In 2013, LaPere appeared in Forbes“30 Under 30 for social impact. Her clients have included The Aspen Institute, Meta, WXR Fund and the T. Rowe Price Foundation, according to Forbes.

“It has been 342 days since our daughter and sister, Pava Marie LaPere, was murdered. Each day has been incredibly painful and difficult to bear,” LaPere’s family said during the sentencing, according to the release.

They continued: “Pava’s death has profoundly impacted our family, her friends, EcoMap Technologies, Johns Hopkins University, the city of Baltimore and the state of Maryland. It was here that she made a significant impact on the lives, entities and communities she loved so much.

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“Acceptable justice may be served today, but it will never fill the void, erase the grief, or replace the impact Pava would have had if she had been given the full life she deserves. Which ALL innocent people deserve.”

After her murder, Maryland state legislators passed the Pava Marie LaPere Act, which prohibits leniency for people convicted of first-degree sex offenses.