A 35-year-old Florida woman has been charged with attempted murder after she allegedly fired shots into the Beverly Hills home of Rihanna on Sunday.
Ivanna Lisette Ortiz was charged on Tuesday with one count of attempted murder, 10 counts of assault on a person with a semiautomatic firearm and three counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling, all felonies, court records show. Officials have said no one was injured during the shooting.
Los Angeles district attorney Nathan Hochman said Rihanna; her partner, A$AP Rocky; their three children; and Rihanna’s mother were at the property at the time of the shooting.
Investigators believe Ortiz drove to Los Angeles from Florida, said Jim McDonnell, the LA police chief, though the timing of her travel is unclear. Her most recent address was in Orlando and she has been a licensed speech pathologist for more than a decade, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities have not said whether Ortiz has any connection to Rihanna or her family, and the motive for the shooting is unclear.
Rihanna’s representatives did not immediately respond to the AP’s requests for comment.
The LA public defender’s office has been appointed to represent Ortiz, saying in a brief statement on Tuesday: “As in every case, we will work to ensure that our client receives the full protections guaranteed under the constitution.”
Ortiz’s arraignment was postponed until 25 March, and she was ordered to be held in jail on $1.8m bail.
KABC-TV broadcast video appeared to show five bullet holes in the home’s front gate. The news station obtained police dispatch audio that says 10 shots were fired.
In 2018, a man was accused of breaking into another home belonging to Rihanna in the Hollywood Hills and spending 12 hours there. The man pleaded no contest to felony counts of stalking and vandalism.
The LA district attorney’s office has a history with Rihanna’s family, last year charging A$AP Rocky, a musician, with assault with a semiautomatic firearm, stemming from an altercation in Hollywood in 2021. A jury found A$AP Rocky, who was facing a lengthy prison sentence, not guilty.
