A tech CEO honored by Forbes was fatally attacked at a Baltimore apartment complex

According to city police, the creator of a Baltimore digital business, whose career achievements placed her on a Forbes 30 under 30 list earlier this year, was discovered dead after being reported missing late Monday morning.

Police reported that 26-year-old Pava LaPere had experienced blunt force trauma. Her name was made public by officials in a news release on Tuesday.

LaPere may have resided at the apartment building where her death was discovered, according to public records.

At a news conference on Tuesday evening, authorities identified a suspect in the case: Jason Billingsley, 32, who was released on parole in October of last year for a prior sex assault conviction.

According to court documents, he admitted to first-degree sex assault in 2015. According to officials, there is no reason to think LaPere knew Billingsley.

The public defender’s office, which previously defended Billingsley, said to The Associated Press on Tuesday night that it is still too early to make any comments on this particular case. Richard Worley, the interim police commissioner for Baltimore, urged anyone with knowledge of Billingsley’s whereabouts to get in touch with the relevant authorities.

He declared that Billingsley ought to be regarded as dangerous and armed. “This person is a murderer and a rapist. Worley declared that the man would do everything to hurt people.

LaPere created the start-up EcoMap Technologies after graduating from Johns Hopkins University in 2019.

According to its website, the organization focuses on curating data from commercial, charitable, and educational environments and making it simpler to access and analyze.

They have T and Meta as customers. Meta is the parent firm of Facebook and Instagram. Foundation Rowe Price Brandon Scott, the mayor of Baltimore, claimed to have had the honor of getting to know LaPere over the past few years.

“To have that life cut short by someone who has no care about anything other than harming people is something that should sit deeply in the stomachs of all Baltimoreans tonight,” he said. We promise to keep working until justice is done.