A mother of two who was raped by Jason Billingsley a decade ago has harshly criticized Maryland’s justice system for releasing the “seasoned predator” just seven years later to torture and kill more victims.
The warped Billinglsey, 32, is charged with a shocking crime spree that culminated in the brutal murder of would-be tech executive Pava LaPere in her exclusive Baltimore apartment on Monday.
Ann Marie Leeper, 35, has bravely spoken out to , saying she had no idea her attacker had been released until his face appeared in news reports on Tuesday afternoon, revealing he was the main suspect in Pava’s murder .
She spent 24 hours bracing herself and fearing for her life until Billingsley was surrounded by a SWAT team late Wednesday night and taken into custody.
“When I heard the words ‘blunt force trauma,’ it all came back to me. “I can remember how hard those blows felt, how his cock got harder and harder the more he hurt me,” Ann Marie told in an exclusive interview.
Ann Marie Leeper, 35, bravely agreed to speak to about her horrific attack by murder suspect Jason Billingsley a decade ago
Jason Billingsley, 32, was released from prison nearly a year ago, only to embark on another violent crime spree that culminated in his arrest Wednesday for the killing of technology CEO Pava LaPere
“All I could think about was him sitting in prison for years thinking, ‘I should have killed her.'” I don’t know why he let me go. I just feel so sorry for Pava’s family.
“It all could have been prevented.” This young lady could still be here. This couple could have fewer scars.
“If they had taken the time to understand that he was a dangerous person and not just a case.”
The powerfully built sex offender killed 26-year-old Pava while on the run because he had terrorized a young couple in a violent burglary and arson attack a week earlier.
Billingsley was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2015 for assault and attempted rape, but accepted a deal that placed him on probation for 16 years.
Using good time credits, he reduced his sentence by a further five, while serving just nine years and three months behind bars from the day of his arrest in 2013 until his release in October last year.
Ten years ago, when Billingsley posed as a good Samaritan to lure Ann Marie to an empty house and rape her, she was in the midst of drug addiction.
But she remembers a meticulous police investigation in which he was selected from a series of photos, several interviews and then a prosecutor taking the reins.
Ann Marie looked steadily at Billingsley at sentencing two years later, but he barely looked at her and showed little emotion when a judge asked why the plea deal could get him released in 14 years, less than the 15 to stipulated in sentencing guidelines 20 years.
Billingsley has had a criminal record since 2009 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2015 – but was released after just nine years
Billingsley was described by the Baltimore Police Commissioner as a repeat violent offender
Assistant District Attorney Robert “Trey” Perkins III described the rape as “horrific” but said Ann Marie was “satisfied with the agreement” and wanted to avoid the trauma of reliving her ordeal in front of a jury, a court record said .
Ann Marie, who bravely agreed to be pictured and named for this article, can’t remember anyone ever asking if she agreed to the deal.
“The prosecutor took care of everything.” I remember 30 years and then a teenage number. But I was in treatment for substance abuse and deep psychotherapy at the time because Jason had traumatized me,” she recalls.
“Of course I wanted it to last longer, but with all the self-loathing, drug addiction and lack of self-esteem, I just thought I was just glad someone believed me.”
“I guess I downplayed it. I mean, he didn’t kill me, that’s how I felt at the time. Looking back, that wasn’t enough. They had DNA, they had the guy, they should have pushed for more.’
After the rape, Ann Marie was at her lowest point, but she was determined to turn her life around and give up her drug addiction for the sake of her daughters, now aged 11 and 15.
Ann Marie described the night her attacker posed as a good Samaritan and lured her into a building before flying into a violent rage
She went to rehab, did therapy and has been sober since 2015. She works as a certified peer recovery specialist, helping women escape the same cycle of violence and drugs.
Ann Marie first met Billingsley on the night of June 23, 2013, when she had an argument with her boyfriend and left the house to get some fresh air.
As she sat on the steps of a neighboring house, he came up to her, comforted her and asked if she needed a place to sleep for the night.
“At first glance he looked like a nice young man. He came, sat down and introduced himself as Jason. He had seen I was upset and said, “I live right across the street. ‘Why don’t you come in?’ Ann Marie said.
Billingsley said he locked himself out and had to lift Ann Marie up through an unlocked window.
She didn’t think that was strange because it was common for addicts and homeless people to live in abandoned houses in drug-ravaged West Baltimore.
“He was friendly, he joked. But when I went to the toilet he kept knocking on the door. “He pushed the door open and stood there in just his boxers,” Ann Marie continued.
As she tried to grab her purse and leave, Billingsley flew into a violent rage.
“I didn’t even make it to the other side of the door. He held me up with one hand and hit me with the other.
“My legs were dangling and kicking in the air. “He was choking me so hard I just wanted to breathe,” Ann Marie said.
Billingsley is the prime suspect in the brutal murder of 26-year-old Baltimore tech executive Pava LaPere, who was found on the roof of her apartment on Monday
Police sources confirmed to that LaPere’s badly beaten body was found on the roof of her luxury apartment building
The repeat offender was arrested Monday at the Marc Train Station in Bowie, Maryland
“I lost control of my bowels. I peed on myself. And then I lost consciousness. As I passed out, all I could think about was how the police would have to go to my mother’s house and tell my daughters that I had been strangled and raped.’
Waking up on a bed next to Billingsley, Ann Marie first claimed she was having an asthma attack and then told the pervert that she had hepatitis C, a lie designed to stop him from penetrating her.
He forced her to give him oral sex instead.
“He punched me in the head, punched me and choked me.” He called me all sorts of names – whore, white slut. After he finished, he took me to the kitchen, where he opened a cupboard and held a steak knife to my throat.
“He said my name wasn’t Jason.” If you tell anyone this happened and bring them here, I will kill you and anyone else you spend time with. He took some money from my purse and let me out the front door.
“My eyes were swollen shut. I was barefoot. I could barely swallow or speak.’
Ann Marie immediately reported the rape and investigators recovered Billingsley’s DNA from her face and a piece of chewing gum.
He was arrested and convicted of his third felony after previously committing first-degree assault in 2009 and second-degree assault in 2011.
When Billingsley applied for parole in 2020 and 2022, he was denied both times.
But under Maryland law, he had earned enough credit for his good behavior behind bars that he was released last October.
Billingsley’s mother (pictured) apologized to LaPere’s family and said she didn’t understand what could have motivated her son if he was responsible
Ann Marie, who still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and nightmares, didn’t receive a single phone call.
‘Good behavior? Obviously he’s a good actor. There was no rehabilitation. He just sat there as his desire to rape grew. And they let him run free and off a leash – an experienced rapist,” she told .
“What really upsets me is that they didn’t even tell me he was coming out.” “He could have walked right past me on the street without me knowing because he looks so different now.”
Billingsley was named Tuesday afternoon as the prime suspect in the murder of entrepreneur Pava, a rising star in the tech world who mentored young people and was named to Forbes’ prestigious “30 Under 30” list for his social impact.
He already had several outstanding warrants for his arrest on Sept. 19 for failing To as a sex offender, stealing a gun and forcibly entering a couple’s home to commit rape, robbery and arson.
Billingsley strangled his 26-year-old female victim, slashed her legs and neck, and then set fire to her basement bedroom.
She managed to climb through a window to safety with her boyfriend Jonte Gilmore, 26, who was beaten, handcuffed and forced to watch as his partner was raped multiple times.
Gilmore described the gruesome attack in an interview with from his hospital bed in a Baltimore burn unit on Thursday.
Jonte Gilmore, 26, spoke to from his hospital bed in a Baltimore burn unit after he and his girlfriend were bound and tortured in a gruesome arson attack by murder suspect Jason Billingsley
The underground bedroom is littered with burned clothing, charred furniture and broken electronics. In the middle is a bed covered in ash and rubble
Police kept details of the crime secret until Wednesday morning – even after published an exclusive story the night before revealing Billingsley was the main suspect.
Acting Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley told reporters that investigators did everything they could to track down Billingsley before finally surrounding him with a SWAT team at a train station and arresting him Wednesday evening.
By then, Ann Marie had spent more than 24 hours scouring news sites for updates, petrified to work or leave the swanky Baltimore apartment where she lives with her daughters and fiancé.
When he was finally behind bars, charged with first-degree murder and a new set of crimes, she checked his mugshot to make sure it really was “Jason.”
“The city of Baltimore is riddled with crime, but they should have at least put something on the news sooner and asked people to be vigilant,” Ann Marie said.
“The system has failed the community and now this young woman’s life is lost, her family is devastated and the couple is traumatized forever.”
“Things have to change.” It’s not okay for people to die and be raped. You can’t just think that you can put people in prison for a while and then they’ll get better.
“Match the time to the crime.”