Murder suspect Jason Billingsley waved Pava LaPere down to open a door to her apartment building before the tech CEO's death, court docs show
Pava LaPere, 26, a tech founder and CEO, was found dead on September 25 at her Baltimore apartment.
The suspect, Jason Billingsley, waved LaPere down to get access to her building, police alleged.
Police records obtained by Insider describe a gruesome crime scene where LaPere was found.
The man accused in the killing of Maryland tech CEO Pava LaPere waved her down to gain access to her locked apartment building before her death, according to new court documents.
According to a statement of charges obtained by Insider, investigators say suspect Jason Billingsley was seen on surveillance footage waving LaPere down from outside the Baltimore building where she lived and worked two-and-a-half days before her body was found on the roof.
Billingsley was arrested late Wednesday and hit with six charges, including first-degree murder. Charging documents detailed a gruesome crime scene after he was let into LaPere's building.
According to the statement of charges, investigators say security footage shows LaPere entering her apartment building on Friday night around 10:30 p.m. Investigators say in the charging documents that security footage shows a man, later identified by authorities as Billingsley, walking up the front steps of the building, looking through the glass, and waving at LaPere.
Investigators say that security footage shows LaPere opening the lobby's door to talk to the man. She then let the man into the building and they got into an elevator together, investigators said in the statement, citing the security footage.
Later footage that night shows the man leaving the building through a stairwell and the front door while wiping his hand on his shorts, investigators said in the statement of charges.
LaPere's coworker found LaPere's body on Monday on the roof of her apartment and led police to her, where they observed trauma to her head, face, and body, according to the statement of charges. A brick, three teeth, and a broken hair clip were also found at the crime scene, investigators said in the statement of charges. The medical examiner found that she died by strangulation and blunt-force trauma.
On Thursday, Baltimore Police said they believe that LaPere was killed Friday.
Police have said that investigators don't believe Billingsley and LaPere knew each other and haven't yet released a possible motive.
Baltimore police had been tracking Billingsley
Baltimore Police Department acting commissioner Richard Worley said on Thursday during a press conference that authorities had previously identified Billingsley as the suspect in connection to a violent crime on September 19 — which happened several miles away from where LaPere was killed — and were surveilling him since September 20.
But it still took several days for police to arrest Billingsley, even after a plea from his mother to turn himself in.
Billingsley also was arrested in 2009, 2011, and 2013, and accused of multiple crimes, including sex offense, second-degree assault, and robbery charges.
In 2015, he received a 30-year prison sentence with all but 14 years suspended and was released early in October 2022, officials said.
LaPere, 26, was the founder and CEO of a tech startup, EcoMap Technologies which creates digital ecosystems for communities ranging from a college alumni network to entire industries, according to its website. Forbes recognized her this year on its "30 under 30" list.
"She was determined to shake up the industry and the good ol' boys network," Delali Dzirasa, CEO of Fearless, another Baltimore-based tech startup, told NBC News.
The homicide rate in Baltimore was on track to decrease this year for the first time since 2018, The Baltimore Banner reported.
Baltimore police recorded 202 homicides this year as of Thursday. If the number stays below 300, it would be the first time since 2014 the city saw less than 300 people killed, according to The Baltimore Banner.
There were about 29,000 reported violent crimes, including shooting, robbery carjacking, and assault, police data showed.
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