Florida woman indicted on 14 counts for shooting at Rihanna's Beverly Hills home
Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 36, faces attempted murder charges after firing an AR-15 at Rihanna and A$AP Rocky's home in March. A grand jury returned the indictment in June.
Florida woman faces attempted murder charges after rifle attack on Rihanna's home
A 36-year-old Florida woman has been indicted on 14 felony counts, including attempted murder, after allegedly driving across the United States to open fire on the Beverly Hills-area home of singer Rihanna and rapper A$AP Rocky, pbs.org reports.
The indictment against Ivanna Lisette Ortiz of Orlando was unsealed Wednesday by a Los Angeles County judge. Ortiz appeared in court wearing yellow jail clothes, spoke only to her attorney, and entered a not guilty plea through counsel. The judge ordered her held on $2.6 million bail.
The grand jury returned its indictment on 18 June, but it was kept under seal for three months pending the outcome of a psychiatric competency evaluation. A separate judge ruled the day before the unsealing that Ortiz is mentally competent to stand trial.
Shots fired at trailer and nursery
The shooting took place on 8 March. Authorities allege Ortiz drove a Tesla to the gates of the property, pointed an AR-15 style rifle out the window, and discharged at least 20 rounds toward the home and a neighbouring house. No one was injured.
Bullets tore through an Airstream trailer on the property, according to a police report. Shots also struck the wall of the home's nursery, where the couple's three young children — Rza, Riot and Rocki, all under age 5 — were present with their nanny. Rihanna's mother, Monica Fenty, and several members of staff were also inside at the time.
Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott spoke plainly outside court: "This is a person who wanted to kill Rihanna. Everyone else was collateral damage."
Rihanna told investigators shortly after the incident that she "suddenly heard approximately ten loud sounds like something banging on metal," and pulled Rocky out of bed and onto the floor. She said she opened the curtains and saw bullet marks in the windshield directly in front of where she had been standing.
Grand jury testimony from Rihanna and her mother
Both Rihanna and Monica Fenty testified before the grand jury, as did Hollywood agent Tracey Jacobs, who is listed among the victims named in the indictment. Their testimony remains under seal but is expected to become public within approximately two weeks, unless the defence seeks to maintain confidentiality and the judge agrees.
The indictment charges Ortiz with 10 counts of assault with an assault weapon — one for each person on the two affected properties — and three counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper, in addition to the attempted murder count. The assault weapon charges carry heavier sentencing exposure than the original counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. If convicted on all counts, Ortiz faces a potential life sentence.
The new indictment supersedes charges filed against Ortiz in March. Prosecutors opted for the secret grand jury process to bypass California's public preliminary hearing procedure, in which evidence would otherwise have to be presented openly to establish whether a trial is warranted.
Prior videos included threats against singer
On the day of her arrest, Ortiz told investigators: "I wasn't attempting murder."
Deputy Public Defender Derek Dillman, representing Ortiz, did not address reporters outside the courtroom. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the indictment. Beyond the not guilty plea, her legal team has made no public statement on the substance of the charges, indicating only that they intend to defend her rights.
Reports relating to the psychiatric evaluations that delayed the case remain sealed, and no details of her mental state were discussed in open court. Prosecutors have not publicly cited a motive or identified any prior connection between Rihanna and Ortiz, who holds a longstanding licence as a speech pathologist. In the months preceding the shooting, however, Ortiz posted a series of videos on Facebook and YouTube in which she made increasingly hostile comments directed at Rihanna, at one point referring to her as a "devil."
Rihanna, a nine-time Grammy Award winner with 14 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, shares the home with A$AP Rocky and their three children.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)