Woman charged with attempted murder over shots fired at Rihanna’s home
Los Angeles: A Florida woman accused of firing gunshots at Rihanna’s home in Los Angeles was charged Tuesday with one count of attempted murder and other felony offences including 10 counts of assault on a person with a semiautomatic firearm.
The district attorney’s office said Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 35, was charged over the shooting on Sunday afternoon outside the superstar’s gated home in the Beverly Hills area.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said that the singing superstar, her partner A$AP Rocky, their three small children and her mother were all on the property at the time. No one was hurt.
Court records show Ortiz also was charged with three counts of shooting at an inhabited vehicle or dwelling. All 14 counts are felonies, and she was brought for a scheduled arraignment before Judge Theresa McGonigle on Tuesday afternoon in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County.
Deputy Public Defender Jamarcus Bradford, Ortiz’ attorney, at first entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf, but then withdrew it in favour of postponing arraignment until March 25. She was ordered to be held on $US1.8 million ($2.56 million) bail. Ortiz wore blue jail clothes with her blonde hair in braids and spoke to her lawyer through a glass divider.
The judge issued a protective order for Ortiz to stay away from Robin Fenty and Rakim Mayers – the legal names of Rihanna and her partner A$AP Rocky – and their home. McGonigle also said Ortiz is not allowed to possess any firearms or ammunition along with several other conditions.
Earlier on Tuesday, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told media gathered for a news conference on a different subject that 10 people were at home when shots were fired.
McDonnell said investigators believe Ortiz drove to the area from Florida, but it’s not clear when. Public records show her most recent address was in Orlando and that she has been a licensed speech pathologist for more than a decade.
Ortiz was arrested Sunday afternoon after the shooting and a weapon was recovered, police said. They have not said whether she has any known connection to Rihanna.
Voicemails and other messages left by The Associated Press, including an email sent to the public defender’s office, were not immediately answered Tuesday.
AP also sent emails seeking comment from Rihanna’s publicist and manager.
KABC-TV broadcast video that appeared to show five bullet holes in the home’s front gate. The news station obtained police dispatch audio that says 10 shots were fired.
In 2018, a man was accused of breaking into another home belonging to Rihanna in the Hollywood Hills and spending 12 hours there. The man pleaded no contest to felony counts of stalking and vandalism and a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest in 2019. He was sentenced to probation.
A nine-time Grammy Award winner, Rihanna has 14 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including We Found Love, Work, Umbrella and Disturbia. She founded the makeup brand Fenty Beauty in 2017.
She and A$AP Rocky announced the birth of their third child, a girl named Rocki Irish Mayers, in September.
AP