Baltimore community gathers to remember tech CEO Pava LaPere

By Tommie Clark

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    BALTIMORE, Maryland (WBAL) — As the search for her killer intensifies, Pava LaPere’s family and friends remembered her with a vigil Wednesday night.

A few hundred people gathered at the base of the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon to remember LaPere. The crowd included members of the technology community, Baltimore City leaders, as well as her loved ones.

LaPere, 26, was found dead at her apartment building Monday. Police have identified the suspect as Jason Billingsley, who they believe to be armed and dangerous.

“Pava was one of the brightest lights in this city, and what she meant for this community and what she was building here, it’s going to be hard to fill those shoes,” friend Sean Sutherland said.

Her family came to town from Tucson, Arizona, sharing memories of their driven, creative daughter.

“She was the definition of daddy’s little girl. She had me wrapped, and still does. She turned from being daddy’s little girl into being a girl boss, and she treated me the same way,” LaPere’s father, Frank LaPere, said.

Pava LaPere came to Baltimore to attend Johns Hopkins University and become a doctor, her family said. But she ended up pivoting to a tech startup, creating a data map company with Baltimore-native Sherrod Davis.

Their team compared her to a superhero.

“I can hear her telling me, ‘You have to press on.’ The world is looking at us and saying, ‘Nope, this is what happens in Baltimore,’ but I’m telling you, she saw things that no one else saw, and she saw something in Baltimore,” Davis said.

As police continue to search for Billingsley, they hope a $6,000 reward might lead to his arrest.

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