The mother of the prime suspect in the murder of Forbes 30 under 30 CEO Pava LaPere has apologized to the victim’s family — saying she doesn’t understand what could have motivated her son if he is responsible.
Scarlett Billingsley’s son Jason Billingsley, 32, has a sordid history of sex crimes, including strangling and raping a woman at knifepoint, which earned him a 30-year prison sentence.
The 305-pound, 6-foot-2 ex-con who is “armed and dangerous” is now being hunted by police after being named a suspect in LaPere’s murder, and his mother begged him to turn himself in when she last heard from him on Tuesday.
“I told him to turn himself in, but I really don’t think he’s going to do that because he’s scared,” she said. WJZ.
‘I don’t know where he is, he doesn’t even call me, but I try to call him. He texted me once to say he was doing well.”
After seeing his face on a TV news, she said, “I screamed. I cried. I can’t understand what happened… that he would do something like that.
“I’m so sorry this happened to her, and if my son did it, I sincerely 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 assaults
LaPere’s battered body was found on the roof of her apartment building. It is believed she did not know Billingsley
Shocking details of the crime that earned Billingsley a 30-year prison sentence – before he was released after just seven years for good behavior – emerged on Wednesday.
Billingsley had posed as a Good Samaritan before strangling and raping a woman in her 20s with a knife in 2013. she was sitting on the street after a ‘verbal argument’ with her boyfriend.
He introduced himself as ‘Jason’ and asked the distressed woman, who is now 35, what was going on before offering her a place to sleep for the night.
But when they arrived at the location, he told her they had to climb through an unlocked window because 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 she told him at the time that she wanted to leave,” the complaint reads.
‘Jason then punched her in the face and put both his hands around her neck. He started to apply pressure around her neck. He told her she would do what he said or he would shoot her.”
“He told her to get on her knees before him. She stated that she complied and got down on her knees, fearing he would harm her.”
After Billingsley forced the woman to perform oral sex, she 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 that someone will believe you,” the complaint said.
Billingsley was released from prison in October 2022 for ‘good behavior credits’, despite being convicted years earlier of strangling a woman and raping her at knifepoint
LaPere was described as having a “tireless dedication” 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 the CEO’s memory on Wednesday
He was charged with attempted first-degree rape, false imprisonment and assault, among other charges, and was convicted in 2015.
Of the thirty-year prison sentence, sixteen years were suspended and five years under supervision.
Credits for good behavior allowed him to walk free last October, despite the original release date being 2043.
Billingsley committed his first attack in 2009 at the age of 18, before committing a second in 2011. He served a two-year prison sentence for the second attack.
Police issued a new arrest warrant for him on Tuesday, along with a stark warning to the public that the convicted sex offender has a twisted history of rape and violence.
He remains listed as a Level 3 sex offender, the most serious of the classifications.
Billingsley was also involved in an attempted arson, murder and rape on September 19, which left two victims with serious burns, a source told 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 arrest.
Police found the 26-year-old Johns Hopkins student in her apartment on September 25 showing signs of blunt force trauma.
She was the founder and CEO of EcoMap Technologies, a Baltimore-based technology startup.
It is believed that Billingsley did not know LaPere, who lived on the seventh floor of the building and whose beaten body was found on the roof.
Billingsley’s mother, Scarlett, apologized deeply to LaPere’s family, saying, “If my son did it, I sincerely 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.”
According to police, the body of the start-up founder showed signs of ‘blunt trauma’
Billingsley, who is still 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 at the vigil to honor the slain entrepreneur
Pava Marie LePere’s family at her memorial vigil in Baltimore Wednesday evening
Pava LaPere’s father Frank broke down in tears during her wake on Wednesday
A memorial ceremony for LaPere was held Wednesday evening at the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon.
Her tearful father, Frank LaPere, told her friends and colleagues, “We are going to take her away from Baltimore, but her presence here will never leave.
“She has always, always been a leader. Always driven and creative, always aiming for high performance. She didn’t say it or say it, but you could just tell she knew what she wanted to achieve and nothing 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 of silence.
EcoMap organized a vigil for their founder on 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 a “tireless commitment to our company, to Baltimore, to strengthening 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 Billingsley should not have been released from jail.
“The conviction must be the conviction,” he said, “and we must make sure that people are held accountable in every way possible because we are tired of hearing the same people commit the same types of crimes over and over again.”
Acting Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley echoed this 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 have one more message for Jason Billingsley.
“If you look – hopefully you do – every police officer in Baltimore City, the state of Maryland, as well as the US Marshals, is looking for you.
“We will find you.”