Jason Billingsley, who is charged with first-degree murder in LaPere's death, was released from prison last October after serving a shortened sentence for a 2013 rape because he earned good behavior credits behind bars. He is also charged with two dozen counts in a Sept. 19 rape in which a woman and man were bound with duct tape before being set on fire, and police had been actively searching for him since then.
"I do believe you are a flight risk and extreme danger to public safety," Judge Tameika Lunn told Billingsley, who appeared virtually via video conference from jail. LaPere's killing marked an exceedingly rare random homicide in a city that has made notable progress in reversing its murder rate over the past several months. So far in 2023, Baltimore homicides are down about 18% compared with this time last year.
Billingsley was then seen "scrambling for an exit" less than an hour later and wiping his hand on his shorts before leaving the apartment building, police said.