Baltimore Tech CEO Pava LaPere Murder Suspect Evaded Cops After Watching Press Conference

The murder suspect in the death of Baltimore entrepreneur Pava LaPere, captured late last night, managed to evade police Tuesday after watching their previous press conference announcing him as a suspect.

Jason Dean Billingsley had been on the run since Monday, when officers answering a missing persons report discovered LaPere's body with signs of blunt force trauma at an apartment building in Mount Vernon.

LaPere was believed to have been murdered Friday night, police admitted at Thursday's briefing. Officials would not give further details on the timeline or events surrounding her death, stating they were respecting the wishes of the victim's family.

Police had described the 32-year-old as "armed and dangerous," later saying he was also wanted in connection with an arson, attempted murder and rape at a family home on September 19. In that case, a man, woman and five-year-old were hospitalized.

Baltimore Police Department said that in that instance, Billingsley and the family were known to each other. Officers did not believe there was a previous connection between the suspect and LaPere.

Billingsley was detained at a train station in Bowie, Maryland, close to Washington D.C. at around 11 p.m. Baltimore Police Department said it had worked with other agencies to capture him.

"We are going to put this violent individual, this repeat offender, back in jail where he belongs," Acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley told reporters Thursday morning, later saying "He's a psychopath."

System allowed Jason Billingsley out of prison early

Ivan J. Bates, Baltimore State Attorney, promised that his office's two top prosecutors would work Billingsley's case.

"If and when the grand jury gives us the indictments, my office will file life without the possibility of parole," Bates said. "Our hope and goal is if this individual is found guilty in a court of law that this individual never gets out to see the light of day again."

In regards to the arson and rape on September 19, police said they did not announce Billingsley as a suspect then as they did not believe he would commit other offenses.

Worley admitted officers had been tracking him for around six days prior to Tuesday's conference, but had not got close enough to him to secure an arrest. Devices being used to track Billingsley were disconnected, Worley said, and he had begun using other means of communication.

Many questions were raised as to why Billingsley was out of prison, when he was sentenced to 30 years inside in 2015, following a violent sexual assault.

Bates said Billingsley was released early because of Maryland's diminution credits system, which allowed him to automatically accrue days off his sentence, regardless of the offense he committed.

The State Attorney said the system needed to be reevaluated for offenders guilty of serious sexual offenses, such as Billingsley. He had previously been denied parole twice before his release.

The suspect, who was on parole and probation, had been due to report to the sex offender unit Monday, but did not turn up. Worley said that until that point, Billingsley had complied with his probation terms and that was why they had not gone public with his connection to the September 19 offense.

"It is very clear that this individual posed a substantial danger, that he had been noncompliant and was clearly violating the terms of his supervision after being released and that alone should be enough to make sure that we keep him off the streets," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott told reporters.

The mayor said he wanted to commend law enforcement officers who worked together to apprehend Billingsley over both incidents.

"Every single life in Baltimore matters," Scott added "Pava's life mattered. Those individuals who he impacted in other incidents matter, those who he had done this to in the past, their lives matter.

"As you know, I had the pleasure of knowing Pava and she was truly a light in our city and in this world. It is heartbreaking that she is no longer with us, especially at the hands of someone who, as I said the other day, should not have been on the streets in the first place."

LaPere remembered by friends & family

LaPere, 26, was remembered by family and friends, as well as members of the community, at a vigil in Baltimore Wednesday night.

Earlier Wednesday, her friend Karina Mandell paid tribute to LaPere, someone she worked alongside in Baltimore to build up the city's entrepreneurial community.

"To take someone who is the best of us, who had such conviction about helping others and being in Baltimore that, that to lose a soul like that... it's the poetry of Gotham City and Harvey Dent and saying if, if the best of us can be injured, what does that mean for the rest of us?" she said in an interview with The Messenger.

Mandell also said a "reckoning" was needed for a system which allowed Billingsley to roam free, despite a 30-year prison sentence for other violent crimes handed down in 2015.

“There is no way in hell this man should have been on the street,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott had said at a Tuesday news conference.

LaPele was the founder of tech start-up EcoMap in the city. On Tuesday night, the company paid tribute to its "beloved" CEO.

"Pava's visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to fostering inclusivity, amplifying ecosystems, and fortifying Baltimore's tech community set her apart as an exceptional leader, and her boundless passion for EcoMap's mission was foundational to our success," the company said in a statement on Facebook.