A jury on Tuesday awarded more than $21 million to two people in their lawsuit against the companies that hired a man who attacked them at a rooming house and then killed a tech CEO in one of the most notorious crimes in Baltimore from the past several years.

April Hurley and Jonte Gilmore filed their lawsuit in 2024 in Baltimore Circuit Court against Eden’s Homes LLC, Property Pals LLC and Jason Billingsley that alleged the businesses failed to take steps including conducting a background check.

Jurors awarded Hurley more than $10.97 million for past and future medical expenses as well as noneconomic and punitive damages. Meanwhile, the panel allotted Gilmore over $10.57 million.

Circuit Judge Kimberly C. McBride presided over the seven-day civil trial.

“Today is a resounding message that was sent by a Baltimore City jury that landlords cannot, and will not, be allowed to ignore their duty to keep their tenants safe,” said Malcolm Ruff, the lead attorney for Hurley and Gilmore, at a news conference.

Ruff described the crime as a “depraved act” but stated that it was “absolutely foreseeable” and “absolutely predictable.”

Billingsley, he said, was completely unfit to work in the home.

In 2015, Billingsley pleaded guilty to first-degree sex offense and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with 16 years suspended, plus five years’ probation. He was denied parole but released in 2022 on credits for good conduct.

“We know that your home is your castle. It is the place you are supposed to feel the most safe,” Ruff said. “And when willfully ignorant landlords completely disregard their duty to ensure that the place where you’re supposed to be the most safe is actually the scene of a lifelong nightmare, they absolutely need to be held accountable.”

Ruff tried the case with Andrew O’Connell, Phylecia Faublas and Paris Holmes.

The attorneys for Eden’s Homes and Property Pals, Melody Miles Haynes and Sabrina Thompson, could not be reached for comment.

On Sept. 19, 2023, Billingsley went to the rooming house on Edmondson Avenue, knocked on the front door of an apartment and shouted, “Maintenance. You have a flood in the kitchen.”

Billingsley then held Hurley and Gilmore hostage at gunpoint.

Next, Billingsley raped Hurley, beat and tortured her, strangled her and slashed her throat multiple times with a knife. He poured gasoline on her and around the room and set a fire.

The Banner does not identify survivors of sexual assault without their permission. Hurley has publicly spoken about the attack during an interview and at news conferences.

Hurley, 27, and Gilmore, 28, survived the attack.

Less than one week later, Billingsley killed Pava LaPere, who started EcoMap Technologies when she was a student at Johns Hopkins University and had been recently named to the Forbes “30 Under 30” list in the category of social impact.

Baltimore Police found LaPere’s body on the roof of her apartment building on West Franklin Street, between North Eutaw and North Howard streets in Mount Vernon, on Sept. 25, 2023. She was 26.

Billingsley, 34, of Sandtown-Winchester, later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and related crimes and was ordered to serve two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Because the criminal cases never went to trial, Hurley and Gilmore did not have to testify in court. But they took the stand during the civil trial and gave emotional testimony.

Hurley recounted the attack in chilling detail.

At one point, she said, Billingsley threatened to cut her up and asked if she thought what had been happening was a movie. He also claimed that he could make her work for him in Mississippi, where she would make $10,000 per day.

Hurley said she’s struggled with alcohol use disorder and mental health issues since the attack. She said she’s been unable to work and hold down a job.

“I feel like I fought for my life that day, and I’m still fighting everyday,” Hurley testified.

Her mother, Dinah Colon, testified that she received a call that her daughter’s throat had been slit.

Colon said she bought the next available plane ticket from Atlanta to Baltimore and rushed to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Hurley, she said, was lying in a hospital bed with a tube down her throat. Doctors had placed her in a medically induced coma.

“It made me feel like I was going to die,” Colon said.

When Hurley regained consciousness, she said, “Mommy, the maintenance man did it,” Colon testified.

Meanwhile, Gilmore testified he’s now afraid to be around other people. He said he only sleeps two hours per night.

“I wish that I was dead, so this would never replay in my head again,” Gilmore said.

Billingsley did not defend himself in the lawsuit.

Curtis Haynes, owner of Eden’s Homes and co-owner of Property Pals, testified that he met Billingsley at a bar and allowed him to live rent-free at a different apartment.

Sometimes, Curtis Haynes said, he would pay Billingsley to cut the grass or do odd jobs at properties. On other occasions, Billingsley did the work for free.

Curtis Haynes testified that he did not run a background check.

“To cut the grass,” he said, “no.”

He disputed that Billingsley was an employee.

Billingsley listed his employer as Eden’s Homes on Facebook. But Curtis Haynes said on social media he could just as well claim that he worked at NASA.

Hurley told reporters that she’s grateful to the jury and feels that justice was served.

“No amount of money could possibly change what happened,” she said, “but it definitely sends a message.”

Besides the physical scars from the attack, Hurley now has a one-word tattoo on her neck.

Survivor.

If you or someone you know needs help, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the United States is available by calling or texting 988. An online chat is available at 988lifeline.org.