A manhunt has been launched to catch an “extremely dangerous” suspect wanted on suspicion of the murder of a successful 26-year-old tech executive.
Pava LaPere, the founder and CEO of EcoMaps Technologies who was featured on Forbes’ “30 under 30” list this year, was found brutally murdered in her apartment on West Franklin Street in Baltimore on Monday. Baltimore Police said that she had suffered blunt-force trauma.
Jason Dean Billingsley, 32, is now wanted on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree assault, sex offence and robbery.
It is not clear what connection – if any – the victim and suspect may have to each other.
Billingsley’s mother pleaded for her son to turn himself in.
“I told him to turn himself in because they’re going to kill him,” Scarlett Billingsley told NBC News in an exclusive interview.
Billingsley has prior convictions for assault and sex offences and is said to be “armed and dangerous”.
“This individual will kill and he will rape. He will do anything he can to cause harm. So, please be aware of your surroundings,” Baltimore Acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley said at a press conference on Tuesday.