A Florida woman alleged to have fired multiple shots into the Beverly Hills-area home of pop star Rihanna with an AR-15-style rifle on Sunday was charged Tuesday with attempted murder, prosecutors said.
Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 35, was charged with attempting to kill Rihanna, along with 10 counts of assault on a person with a semi-automatic firearm and three counts of shooting at an inhabited vehicle or dwelling, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
No one was injured during the incident.
Rihanna, her partner A$AP Rocky, her mother and her three children RZA Athleston, 3, Riot Rose, 2, and five-month-old Rocki Irish Mayers were all at home during the time of the shooting.
The 38-year-old singer and her rap star partner were together in a trailer on the property at the time of the Sunday afternoon shooting, while other family members and staffers were in the Beverly Hills-area home, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said outside a court hearing.
Inside court, deputy public defender Jamarcus Bradford, Ortiz’s lawyer, 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 held on US$1.8-million bail. Ortiz wore blue jail clothes with her blond hair in braids and spoke to the lawyer through a glass divider.
The L.A. County Public Defender’s Office said in a statement that it could not comment on the pending case against Ortiz.
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“As in every case, we will work to ensure that our client receives the full protections guaranteed under the Constitution,” the statement said.
Ortiz could get life in prison if convicted on all charges — all 14 counts against her are felonies. The three counts of firing at a dwelling were for Rihanna’s house, her trailer and a neighbour’s house, prosecutors said. The 10 assault counts were for Rihanna and family, two staffers and two people in the neighbouring house.
“When an individual comes into our community and decides to shoot it up, that individual will be arrested and held fully accountable for her actions,” Hochman said outside the courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday.
“L.A.-based celebrities should not be additionally worried because of this,” Hochman said, “in large part because of the response of the police.”
He praised officers for arresting Ortiz several kilometres to the north, in the suburb of Sherman Oaks, soon after the shooting.
Judge Theresa McGonigle issued a protective order for Ortiz to stay away from Rihanna and A$AP Rocky and their home. McGonigle also said Ortiz is not allowed to possess any firearms or ammunition, along with several other conditions.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) responded to a report of the shooting at 1:21 p.m. local time on Sunday in the Beverly Hills Post Office neighbourhood, an LAPD spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times.
The suspect reportedly fired multiple rounds with what police described as an AR-15-style rifle from inside a vehicle, targeting the home of the Love on the Brain singer.
The reports say police discovered bullet-holes in a gate at the home of Rihanna, as well as in an RV parked in the driveway of the property.
In an LAPD radio dispatch audio obtained by the Los Angeles Times, first responders reported that “approximately 10 shots” had been fired at the home from a vehicle described as a white Tesla parked across the street. The vehicle then fled south on Coldwater Canyon Drive.
Ortiz was taken into custody on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with the Sunday afternoon incident and a possible motive was not immediately provided, NBC reports.
“When they pulled the suspect over and took her into custody, they searched the vehicle and located an assault rifle and seven casings,” Armen Arias, an LAPD spokesperson, told the Los Angeles Times.
This isn’t the first time the Grammy-winning singer has experienced a serious incident at her home.
In 2018, a 27-year-old man broke into Rihanna’s house after hopping a fence, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney.
Rihanna was not home at the time and the man, identified as Eduardo Leon, spent 12 hours inside the home before he was discovered by the singer’s assistant.
Leon pleaded no contest to stalking and was ordered to stay away from Rihanna for 10 years. He was sentenced to formal probation for five years and placed on GPS monitoring for 90 days.
— With files from The Associated Press
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