Suspect in Pava LaPere murder had evaded manhunt in separate case days before tech CEO’s body was found: cops

The violent felon accused of murdering Pava LaPere had already been subject to an intense, six-day manhunt for a separate rape and attempted murders even before the tech CEO’s body was found, Baltimore cops revealed Thursday.

Jason Dean Billingsley, 32, was taken into custody without incident in Bowie, Maryland, around 11 p.m. Wednesday after being named the prime suspect in LaPere’s murder, Baltimore Acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley confirmed at a press conference Thursday morning.

Worley had previously warned that the convicted rapist was likely “armed and dangerous” and “will kill and he will rape.”

He revealed that Billingsley — who was released on mandatory supervision after completing a rape sentence less than a year ago — was already being hunted when he is suspected of killing LaPere, the 26-year-old CEO who was on this year’s Forbes 30 under 30 list for social impact.

A warrant was issued for Billingsley within hours of a Sept. 19 attack that involved the “targeted” gunpoint rape of a woman who was also set on fire along with a man with her.

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The 6-foot-4, 305-pound suspect knew the victims in the earlier attack and was let into the apartment where the crime took place, the chief said, without elaborating on the link.

Police began tracking Billingsley’s phone, financial transactions and other possible leads on Sept. 20 — but he evaded capture, despite officers frequently coming within several steps of his location, Worley said.

Days into the hunt, LaPere was found beaten to death on the roof of her Mount Vernon apartment building. Her body was found Monday — six days after the earlier attack — but police believe she may have been killed on Friday.

However, officials thought they were so close to catching Billingsley — coming within a few hundred feet of him, the chief said, without elaboration — they even delayed a press conference on LaPere’s killing.

The Baltimore force did not alert the public about Billingsley after the Sept. 19 attack because they did not believe he was committing “random acts,” Worley said when challenged about the lack of warning.

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“If I thought we made a mistake, I would tell you we made a mistake,” he insisted.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott also jumped to defend the department, saying they “do their job better than any other [police department] in the country.”

Scott slammed Billingsley as a “sociopath,” and underscored that “every single life in Baltimore matters,” referring to LaPere and the unnamed victims of the Sept. 19 attack.

“I sincerely hope that we are able to provide a little bit of peace today,” Worley continued, vowing to send Billingsley “back to jail, where he belongs.”

When the case goes to trial, state prosecutors will seek life without the possibility of parole so he will “never get out to see the light of day again,” state’s attorney Ivan Bates reassured the public at the presser.

Billingsley was first reported to have been apprehended around 11:10 p.m. Wednesday at a train station in Bowie in a since-deleted tweet by the US Marshals Service in Baltimore.

LaPere, 26, was reported missing on Monday and was later found beaten to death.

Her partially clothed body was initially reported to have been found inside her Mount Vernon apartment, but sources close to the investigation told the Baltimore Banner that she was actually discovered on the roof of the building.

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The tech CEO lived in the former Congress Hotel, where one-bedroom units rent for around $1,500 per month, according to the building’s management company.

In the Sept. 19 attack, Billingsey is believed to have assaulted a 26-year-old woman and slashed her throat, sources told WBAL-TV earlier this week.

He then allegedly poured liquid on both the woman and a 26-year-old man and set them on fire.

In addition to leaving both adults in critical condition, a 5-year-old child suffered smoke inhalation, the outlet said.

Baltimore authorities are eyeing unsolved cases over the past year for possible ties to Billingsley, Worley confirmed.

Billingsley previously pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and second-degree assault in 2009 and 2011, respectively, before serving time behind bars for the 2013 rape of a 25-year-old woman, Maryland court records revealed.

The victim in that case said Billingsley struck her on the face and started “strangling” her when she refused to have sex with him.

He then forced her to perform oral sex on him and took $53 from her wallet.

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Thanks to a plea deal with former DA Marilyn Mosby’s office, Billingsley pleaded guilty to a first-degree sex assault and was hit with 14 years in prison — only to be released last October after amassing good behavior credit.

He was still on parole at the time of both the Sept. 19 attack and LaPere’s death, and had been cooperating with the terms of the sex offender registry, Worley said Thursday.

When pushed on why Billingsley was granted parole despite the violence of his previous crime, Scott admitted that “rapists should not get out of jail [early].”

Gates declined to comment on the terms of the suspect’s prior plea deal, but he did say it was “a little bit below guidelines.”

LaPere was described as a “visionary force” by the team at EcoMap Technologies, the company she launched from her dorm room at Johns Hopkins University at just 22 years old.

“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,” the statement read.

LaPere was listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 list for social impact this year, and was “on her way to changing the world” at the time of her death, relative Ashley Freeman wrote on Facebook.

“[She] made an impact in every endeavor she undertook and on every life she touched. She will be forever missed as a daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin, and loyal friend,” LaPere’s heartbroken father, Frank LaPere, added in his own memorial post.