Jason Billingsley, 32, the suspect wanted for the brutal murder of Baltimore technology CEO Pava LaPere, was arrested on Wednesday night, sources told Fox News.
Billingsley was tracked by law enforcement to the MARC Train Station on Laurel-Bowie Road in Bowie, Prince George’s County at 11:10pm.
Sources close to the investigation told the outlet that Billingsley was taken into custody without incident.
DailyMail.com has contacted Baltimore Police Department for more information on the case. They did not immediately respond at the time of publication.
The mother of the prime suspect in the murder of Forbes 30 under 30 CEO Pava LaPere, Scarlett Billingsley, earlier apologized to the victim’s family – and said she doesn’t understand what could have motivated her son if he is responsible.
Her son has a sordid history of sexual crimes, including strangling and raping a woman at knifepoint which landed him with a 30-year prison sentence.
The 305lbs, 6’4 ex-con was named a suspect in LaPere’s murder, and his mother begged for him to turn himself in when she last heard from him on Tuesday.
‘I told him that he needs to turn himself in, but I really don’t think he’s going to do that because he’s scared,’ she told WJZ.
‘I don’t know where he is, he don’t even call me but I’ve been trying to call him. He texted me one time to say that he’s OK.’
After seeing his face on a TV news report she said: ‘I screamed. I cried. I can’t understand what happened…that he would do something like that.
‘I am so sorry that this happened to her, and if my son did it, I really apologize because I don’t know what happened to make him do that.’
Jason Billingsley is wanted in connection with the murder of EcoMap Technologies founder Pava LaPere
The 32-year-old, pictured here with his mother, has a sordid history of violent sexual attacks
LaPere’s battered body was found on the rooftop of her apartment building. She is not believed to have known Billingsley
Shocking details of the crime which landed Billingsley with a 30-year sentence – before he was freed after just seven years for good behavior – came to light Wednesday.
Billingsley had posed as a Good Samaritan before he strangled and raped a woman in her 20s at knifepoint in 2013. He approached her as she sat in the street in the wake of a ‘verbal argument’ with her boyfriend.
He introduced himself as ‘Jason’ and asked the distressed woman, who is now 35, what was wrong before offering her a place to stay for the night.
But when they got to the location he told her they would have to climb through an unlocked window as he had lost his keys, according to court records.
‘They both sat on a bed and talked. She states that ‘Jason’ told her he wanted to have sex with her. And at that time she told him that she wanted to leave,’ the complaint reads.
‘Jason then struck her on the face and placed both his hands around her neck. He began to apply pressure around her neck. He told her she was going to do what he said or he was going to shoot her.’
‘He told her to get on her knees in front of him. She stated that she complied and got on her knees in fear he would harm her.’
After forcing the woman to perform oral sex, Billingsley took $53 from her wallet.
As he left the house, he growled: ‘You better not tell anyone about this. My aunt is a police officer. Know one (sic) will believe you,’ according to the complaint.
Billingsley was released from prison in October 2022 for ‘good behavior credits,’ despite being sentenced for strangling a woman and raping her at knifepoint years earlier
LaPere was described as having ‘untiring commitment’ to her company and to the city of Baltimore
She was a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2023
People flooded a vigil held in memory of the CEO on Wednesday
He was hit with charges including attempted first-degree rape, false imprisonment and assault and was sentenced in 2015.
Of the 30-year sentence, 16 years were suspended and five years were supervised probation.
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With good behavior credits he was able to walk free in October last year despite having an original release date of 2043.
Billingsley committed his first assault in 2009 at age 18 before committing a second in 2011. He served a two-year prison sentence for the second attack.
Police issued a fresh arrest warrant for him Tuesday along with a stark warning to the public that the convicted sex offender has a warped history of rape and violence.
He remains listed as a Tier 3 sex offender, the most serious of the classifications.
Billingsley was also connected to an attempted arson, murder, and rape on September 19 that left two victims with critical burn injuries, a source told the DailyMail.com.
Evidence in that case linked Billingsley to LaPere’s death a week later. A $6,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his capture.
Police found the 26-year-old Johns Hopkins grad inside her apartment on September 25, showing signs of blunt-force trauma.
She was the founder and CEO of EcoMap Technologies, a Baltimore-based tech start-up.
Billingsley is not believed to have known LaPere, who lived on the seventh floor of the building and whose beaten body was found on the roof.
Billingsley’s mother, Scarlett, apologized profoundly to LaPere’s family, saying: ‘If my son did it, I really apologize because I don’t know what happened to make him do that’
Scarlett said she told her son to surrender in connection with the entrepreneur’s death, but: ‘I really don’t think he’s going to do that because he’s scared’
The start-up founder’s body showed signs of ‘blunt-force trauma,’ according to police
Billingsley, who remains on the run, is considered armed and dangerous and is said to be a suspect in ‘at least one other case’
Members of LaPere’s family spoke during the vigil to honor the slain entrepreneur
The family of Pava Marie LePere at her Memorial vigil In Baltimore on Wednesday night
Pava LaPere’s father Frank breaks down in tears at her vigil on Wednesday
On Wednsesday night, a remembrance ceremony was held for LaPere at the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon.
Her tearful father, Frank LaPere, told her friends and co-workers: ‘We’re going to take her away from Baltimore, but her presence will never leave here.
‘She’s always, always been a leader. Always been driven and creative, always intended to be a high achiever – didn’t mention it or say it or anything, but you could just tell she knew what she wanted to accomplish and there was nothing that could get in her way.’
The crowd then held a minute of noise for LaPere, after her former roommate said she would have preferred that to a minute’s silence.
EcoMap hosted a vigil for their founder the night of September 26. It was held on the south steps of the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon.
A statement from the company described LaPere as a ‘leader, friend and partner’ with an ‘untiring commitment to our company, to Baltimore, to amplifying the critical work of ecosystems across the country, and to building a deeply inclusive culture.’
During a news conference on September 26, Mayor Brandon Scott said that Billingsley should not have been released from prison.
‘The conviction should be the conviction,’ he said, ‘and we have to make sure that folks are held accountable in every single way because we are tired about hearing the same people committing the same type of crimes over and over again.’
Acting Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley echoed the sentiment, warning that Billingsley would ‘kill and rape again’ if he was not apprehended.
In his closing remarks on the same day, Worley said: ‘Before we end, I just have a message for Jason Billingsley.
‘If you’re out there watching – hopefully you are – every single police officer in Baltimore City, the state of Maryland, as well as the U.S. Marshals are looking for you.
‘We will find you.’
