Baltimore Landlords Pay $21.5 Million After Hiring Unvetted Worker Who Attacked and Burned Two Tenants

In September 2023, Jason Billingsley had a violent criminal history -- prior sex offenses and assaults -- that any basic background check would have surfaced. The companies that owned and managed a West Baltimore rooming house, Property Pals LLC and Eden's Homes LLC, never ran one. Instead, owner Curtis Haynes met Billingsley at a bar and allowed him to live rent-free on the property while performing maintenance work.

On September 19, 2023, Billingsley used his apparent maintenance role to gain entry to a unit where April Hurley lived. He sexually assaulted Hurley, cut her throat, and then doused both Hurley and her guest Jonte Gilmore with an accelerant and set them on fire. Neighbors heard their cries and pulled them to safety through a basement window. Both survived with severe injuries. Days later, Billingsley murdered Baltimore tech entrepreneur Pava LaPere, the founder of a startup she had built from her Johns Hopkins University dorm room. Billingsley later pleaded guilty to LaPere's murder and to the attack on Hurley and Gilmore, and was sentenced to multiple life terms.

Hurley and Gilmore brought a civil negligence action against the two landlord entities, arguing that the companies' failure to vet Billingsley before entrusting him with property access made them legally responsible for what he did. At trial, Curtis Haynes acknowledged under oath that he had never verified Billingsley's background before hiring him. Murphy, Falcon and Murphy, together with co-counsel, presented evidence that a standard criminal records check would have revealed Billingsley's disqualifying history before he ever set foot in a tenant's building.

The jury agreed. In November 2025, the Baltimore City Circuit Court panel returned a verdict of $21.5 million, including $10 million in punitive damages and more than $1.5 million for the plaintiffs' past and future medical expenses. Defense counsel Melody Haynes indicated the defendants intended to appeal. No reduction or remittitur has been ordered as of the date of publication.

April Hurley said after the verdict: 'I'm just thankful that me and Jonte survived that day and that we made it this far to fight for this ruling.'