How to remove pervious owner from used IPad?

bought the IPad 8 months ago from a fellow employing where i worked she cleared all the Data from it but it still was still connected to her Apple ID. not too long after buying it from her, she got herself a better paying job, and haven't seen/heard from her since. I been trying to get it to activate and connect it to my account but to no avail. Is there a way to remove it from her AppleID with you information or did i just throw money away for an expense paper weight??