The body of tech CEO Pava LaPere was discovered on the roof of her swanky Baltimore apartment building after she was beaten to death — and her suspected killer is being investigated in connection with a knifepoint sex attack and arson days earlier, according to reports.
LaPere, 26, the co-founder of startup EcoMap Technologies who was named on this year’s Forbes 30 under 30 list for social impact, was reported missing Monday and later found with blunt-force trauma to her head, police said.
She was reported to have been found dead inside her swanky Mount Vernon apartment, but sources close to the investigation told the Baltimore Banner that her badly beaten and partially clothed body was actually discovered on the building’s roof.
Jason Billingsley, an “extremely dangerous” 32-year-old with a violent past, is wanted on charges of first-degree murder, reckless endangerment, assault and other charges for the alleged murder, Baltimore cops said.
“This individual will kill and he will rape. He will do anything he can to cause harm,” acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley cautioned, citing the suspect’s alarming rap sheet.
Billingsley previously pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in 2009 and second-degree assault in 2011, court records show.
In 2015, he pleaded guilty to a first-degree sex offense and was sentenced to 30 years behind bars, according to the records.
However, he was released only seven years into the sentence by the parole commission during the term of District Attorney Marilyn Mosby — who was backed by billionaire Democratic donor George Soros — on “good-time credits,” according to the Baltimore Banner.
The 6-foot-4, 305-pound suspect — who is considered armed and dangerous — also is wanted in a separate case, Worley said this week, without elaborating.
However, sources told the Daily Mail that police are investigating whether he was involved in a knifepoint sex assault and arson attack in the city on Sept. 19 that left a man and a woman, both 26, in critical condition and a 5-year-old child suffering from smoke inhalation.
The attacker had sexually assaulted the woman and slashed at her throat with a knife, one of the outlet’s sources said.
When asked whether Billingsley was considered a suspect in that incident, a police spokesman told the Daily Mail that they “can’t confirm that.”
Police have asked Billingsley to turn himself in as “every single police officer in Baltimore City, the state of Maryland, as well as the US Marshals are looking for you.”
“We will find you,” the police commissioner warned.
LaPere lived in the former Congress Hotel, which has since been renovated into apartments. One-bedroom units go for about $1,500 per month, according to the building’s management company Zahlco.
Her company, which she launched from her dorm at Johns Hopkins University, seeks to make ecosystems information accessible to everyone along with “powerful technology to digitize ecosystems,” according to its website.
EcoMap Technologies released a statement sending its condolences and calling LaPere’s death “deeply distressing.”
“Pava was not only the visionary force behind EcoMap but was also a deeply compassionate and dedicated leader. Her untiring commitment to our company, to Baltimore, to amplifying the critical work of ecosystems across the country, and to building a deeply inclusive culture as a leader, friend, and partner set a standard for leadership, and her legacy will live on through the work we continue to do,” it said.
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