Talented tech entrepreneur killed on rooftop of her apartment

Pava LaPere was killed by a man who should never have been on the streets

- GAIL SHORTLAND

Pava LaPere was a young tech entrepreneur who had caught the attention of the business world - and a compassionate woman who wanted to make a difference in her community.

Pava, 26, grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and studied at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University. In 2018, when she was just 21, she co-founded EcoMap Technologies a tech start-up company to help businesses find opportunities for growth through AI tools.

The idea had started in her dorm room and grew into a successful business employing more than 30 members of staff.

By 2023, Pava was living in Baltimore, Maryland, and earlier that year, she was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list under the social impact category. It was recognition that Pava was a force for change.

She was a passionate environmentalist and even as her business started to raise millions of dollars, and the Forbes accolade made her well known, she remained focused on the community and her plans to make social change in the city she loved.

On 22 September 2023, Pava attended a local festival that celebrated the Baltimore arts scene. It was a Friday night. On the Sunday evening, her parents were worried when she didn't call them like she always did. Their fears were confirmed when a colleague let them know Pava hadn't turned up for work on the Monday morning.

Pava was reported missing.

Officers went to her apartment building and found her partially clothed body on the rooftop. She'd been sexually assaulted and had died of strangulation and blunt force trauma. Her red shoes lay nearby with a brick that had her DNA on it.

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It was a shocking murder that took place in her own building. Surveillance footage showed she had encountered a man after leaving the festival. They parted but Pava didn't notice he had followed her while keeping his distance.