A man accused of brutally assaulting a West Baltimore couple during a home invasion pleaded guilty to those charges Monday morning.
Jason Billingsley pleaded guilty in Baltimore City Circuit Court to attempted first-degree and second-degree murder on the day his trial was set to begin.
Billingsley, 33, is also accused of murdering local tech entrepreneur Pava LaPere days after the home invasion and is due to stand trial in that case on Friday. He is expected to plead guilty to murder charges in that case, said James Bentley, spokesperson for the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office.
With Monday’s plea, Billingsley says he broke into the West Baltimore home of Jonte Gilmore and April Hurley last September, before holding the couple hostage there. Billingsley is accused of sexually assaulting Hurley, slitting her throat and then dousing the couple in gasoline before setting them on fire.
WYPR is naming the victims of the assault because they have come forward with their stories publicly.
Hurley addressed the court Monday and said that life since the attack has been “nothing short of devastating.” She described sleepless nights and nightmares.
LaPere’s brutal death at her Mount Vernon apartment and the Upton home invasion heightened fears around city crime and launched a statewide search for Billingsley before police apprehended him at a train station in Bowie.
Billingsley was sentenced to 30 years in prison for a first-degree sex offense in 2015 with all but 14 years suspended and five years of probation. In 2022, Billingsley was released from prison on diminution — or “good time” — credits.
The realization that Billingsley was released before the end of his full sentence drew public outcry after his more recent crimes, including from Mayor Brandon Scott, who made reforming the diminution system a priority for the 2024 legislative session in Annapolis.
That law, called the Pava LaPere Act, passed, and beginning this October , first-degree sex offenders will no longer be eligible for diminution credits. Criminal justice reform advocates worry the law will have unintended consequences.
“These kinds of good time credits incentivize incarcerated people to be on better behavior while they're incarcerated,” said David Jaros, the director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform at the University of Baltimore during an interview earlier this year. “This means they're less dangerous to correctional officers, and also less likely to victimize and traumatize other inmates they encounter while they're inside.”
