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Baltimore CEO was killed by repeat offender who should have never been on the street, officials allege
NBC News ^ | Sept. 26, 2023, 10:29 PM CDT | By Antonio Planas and Tim Stelloh

Posted on 09/27/2023 8:49:24 AM PDT by Red Badger

Pava LaPere, the founder of EcoMap Technologies, was found dead in an apartment Monday. Police say they are looking for a suspect considered armed and dangerous.

Police in Baltimore say they are searching for a repeat violent offender who should not have been free after a 26-year-old tech CEO was found dead at an apartment Monday.

Pava LaPere, the CEO and founder of EcoMap Technologies, whose accomplishments earned her a spot on the Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list, was found dead about 11:30 a.m. Monday at an apartment with apparent signs of “blunt-force trauma,” police said.

Pava LaPere.pavamarie via Instagram

Police said Tuesday they had issued an arrest warrant for Jason Billingsley on first-degree murder and additional charges.

Officials said Billingsley, 32, of Baltimore, should be considered armed and dangerous.

"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."

In 2015, Billingsley was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with 16 years suspended, after he pleaded guilty to a first-degree sex offense, court records show.

The Maryland sex offender registry shows he was released from prison in October. The registry classified him in "tier 3," which includes the most serious charges and requires offenders to register for life.

The prosecutor in the 2015 case did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Billingsley's public defender could not immediately be reached.

Relatives identified in public records as Billingsley's mother and sister did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Court records show Billingsley also pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in 2009 and second-degree assault in 2011.

The police Special Investigations Section is working to determine whether Billingsley is linked to any other cases, police said.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said Billingsley should not have been free.

"There is no way in hell that he should have been out on the street," Scott 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."

Officials did not provide details about a possible motive in LaPere's death or any possible relationship between her and Billingsley.

Scott, who said he had gotten to know LaPere in recent years, called her “young, talented” who was “devoted” to the city.

A missing person report had been filed not long before LaPere was discovered dead late Monday morning, police said.

In a written statement Tuesday night, LaPere's family said she was an inspiration to many.

"She was driven, creative, hard working and relentless in her efforts, with her wonderful team at EcoMap Technologies," her family said. "Pava made an impact in every endeavor she undertook and on every life she touched. She will be forever missed as a daughter, sister, grand-daughter, niece, cousin and loyal friend."

LaPere’s firm, EcoMap Technologies, positions itself as a company that uses technology to "digitize ecosystems, ensuring anyone can easily access the information they need, so ecosystems can be as equitable, efficient, & effective as possible.”

In a statement, EcoMap Technologies said the circumstances surrounding LaPere's death were "deeply distressing" and that she "was not only the visionary force behind EcoMap but was also a deeply compassionate and dedicated leader.”

In its "30 Under 30" feature for 2023, Forbes said that LaPere, a Johns Hopkins graduate, had a team of 30 and that her clients included the Aspen Institute, Meta, the WXR Fund and the T. Rowe Price Foundation.

Worley, the police commissioner, pleaded with Billingsley to stop running and turn himself in.

"If you’re out there watching ... every single police officer in Baltimore city, in the state of Maryland, as well as U.S. marshals, are looking for you," Worley said. "We will find you ... and then we will turn it over to the state’s attorney to prosecute you to the fullest. So please turn yourself in."

Antonio Planas


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: baltimore; maryland
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To: Red Badger

Sorry she died - talented, intelligent and full of life. But Baltimore’s a democrat hellhole and she should have moved ... if she had she’d still be with us.


61 posted on 09/27/2023 10:13:37 AM PDT by GOPJ (GW Law Prof Catherine Ross feels 77 Million Trump supporters are Jan 6th and Trump can be Kangarooed)
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To: Red Badger

99% of violent crime is committed by “repeat violent offenders who should not have been free”


62 posted on 09/27/2023 10:15:16 AM PDT by 13foxtrot
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To: freedomjusticeruleoflaw
I’m sure she donated heavily to Black Lives Matter.

I hate to say it but she won the Darwin Award.

This is shat happens when we keep voting for Democrats.

63 posted on 09/27/2023 10:16:38 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: Mozzafiato

“Quick Donor Lookup on OpenSecrets.org reveals she donated to the Democratic Governor of Maryland (Wes Moore) and another Democrat Brooke Lierman.”

Interesting.


64 posted on 09/27/2023 10:19:10 AM PDT by Mr. N. Wolfe
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To: Red Badger

Surprise, surprise, surprise....


65 posted on 09/27/2023 10:27:35 AM PDT by vetvetdoug
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To: thefactor; DeplorablePaul

“...although nobody has said it yet, I think he was an invited guest in her apartment.”

Well, this is what I’ve been wondering too. There’s a lot of info on her, and a lot of info on him, and the cops seem 100% sure he did this murder, but there is ZERO info on why they think that. How DID these two people ever cross paths?


66 posted on 09/27/2023 10:28:49 AM PDT by jocon307
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To: Starboard

“Peter Lynch once said he wouldn’t invest in any company whose business couldn’t be illustrated with a crayon.”

Great quote—eliminates all the vaporware companies and the conglomerates who hide all their disasters inside complex accounting gimmicks.


67 posted on 09/27/2023 10:33:38 AM PDT by cgbg ("Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training." Anna Freud.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

“Darwin award”

Yup—they definitely did not teach street smarts at John Hopkins.


68 posted on 09/27/2023 10:38:39 AM PDT by cgbg ("Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training." Anna Freud.)
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To: Red Badger

If I heard correctly today on the radio, her org was a full-throated supporter of BLM.


69 posted on 09/27/2023 10:39:06 AM PDT by sauropod (I will stand for truth even if I stand alone.)
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To: Red Badger

Victim was a HUGE lib. It would not surprise me if she befriended the thug fully knowing his background and he turned on her when she wouldn’t voluntarily give him what he wanted.


70 posted on 09/27/2023 10:39:48 AM PDT by KevinB (Word for the day: "kakistocracy" - a society governed by its least suitable or competent citizens)
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To: Red Badger

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12563751/Pava-Marie-LaPere-murder-suspect-warrant.html


71 posted on 09/27/2023 10:43:48 AM PDT by Luke21
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To: DariusBane

This informational template from another site was I found.

https://marylandentrepreneurhub.com/organization-profile/ecomap-technologies-inc


72 posted on 09/27/2023 10:45:43 AM PDT by Scram1
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To: MTsumi
I don’t how anyone who has a choice would choose to live in Baltimore.

I know quite a few people, including my son, who voluntarily live in Baltimore. There are some very nice areas there, particularly east of the Inner Harbor. The Mt. Vernon area, where this chick lived, used to be one of the most gentrified parts of the city, but not so much now.

73 posted on 09/27/2023 10:45:46 AM PDT by KevinB (Word for the day: "kakistocracy" - a society governed by its least suitable or competent citizens)
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To: Red Badger

You know, if Obama had a son.......

When will Obama be claiming this guy?


74 posted on 09/27/2023 10:52:08 AM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: jocon307
...and the cops seem 100% sure he did this murder, but there is ZERO info on why they think that.

They have his DNA in the database from his earlier crime career and he left his DNA in the victim. Easy to match.

75 posted on 09/27/2023 10:52:13 AM PDT by KevinB (Word for the day: "kakistocracy" - a society governed by its least suitable or competent citizens)
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To: jocon307

Dating app perhaps? But maybe they were at the same bar. Or they crossed paths if he was looking for work. She prided her company on being very woke. Maybe she was looking to hire felons. It happens with these young idealists.


76 posted on 09/27/2023 10:54:49 AM PDT by thefactor
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To: Mr. N. Wolfe

*


77 posted on 09/27/2023 10:55:33 AM PDT by Taffini ( Mr. Pippen and Mr. Waffles do not approve and neither do I)
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To: Red Badger

The only message to Jason should be; “Your family is dead, you’re next.”

Go medieval on the mofo.


78 posted on 09/27/2023 11:09:25 AM PDT by MrBambaLaMamba (The only good commie is one that's dead - Country Joe McDonald)
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To: Scram1

Well it looks like they have account managers and software developers. So I guess they sell a subscription like a CRM on steroids. But so out of my experience.


79 posted on 09/27/2023 11:35:15 AM PDT by DariusBane (Liberty and Risk. Flip sides of the same coin. So how much risk will YOU accept? Vive Deo et Vives)
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To: Alberta's Child

Who wants to imprison them?
Just cut a deal with Liberia or Ghana and send them there.
They can do all the rapping, twerking, stealing, and murdering to their heart’s content.
That would solve a ton of our problems and probably reduce the national debt by 25%.


80 posted on 09/27/2023 11:46:57 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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