Rihanna home shooting: Shocking 14-count indictment unsealed
A Los Angeles grand jury has indicted Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 36, on 14 felony counts, including attempted murder, in the Rihanna home shooting, the Associated Press reported via NBC News. Prosecutors say the Orlando, Florida, woman fired an AR-15-style rifle at the Beverly Hills-area home Rihanna shares with A$AP Rocky on March 8.
A judge unsealed the indictment Wednesday, Sept. 30. Ortiz’s attorney entered a not guilty plea on her behalf, and the judge set her bail at $2.6 million.
What happened in the Rihanna home shooting
Authorities allege Ortiz drove her Tesla across the country from Orlando to the couple’s property. Once there, prosecutors say, she aimed the rifle out of the car window and fired at least 20 shots toward the home and a house next door.
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky were inside an Airstream trailer on the property at the time, and investigators later found bullet holes in it, according to the AP. Another round hit the outside wall of the home’s second-floor nursery, where the couple’s three young children were with their nanny. Rihanna‘s mother and several staff members were also in the house. No one was hurt.
Ortiz drove away, but a police helicopter tracked her car to the Sherman Oaks Galleria shopping center, about eight miles away, where officers arrested her roughly half an hour after the 911 call, according to Billboard and CBS Los Angeles.
The charges
The indictment in the Rihanna home shooting includes one count of attempted murder, 10 counts of assault with an assault weapon and three counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper, according to the AP. If convicted on all counts, Ortiz could face life in prison.
The grand jury indictment replaces the charges filed in March, when Ortiz pleaded not guilty at her arraignment. Because the grand jury met in secret, prosecutors can skip California’s preliminary hearing, where evidence would otherwise be laid out in open court to decide whether the case goes to trial.
Ortiz had been held on $1.875 million bail before Wednesday’s hearing, Billboard reported.
Prosecutor’s comments and motive
Outside court, Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said, “This is a person who wanted to kill Rihanna. Everyone else was collateral damage.”
After her arrest, Ortiz told investigators, “I wasn’t attempting murder,” according to the AP. Prosecutors haven’t offered a motive for the Rihanna home shooting or tied Ortiz to the singer in any way. The AP describes Ortiz as a speech pathologist who had held a license for years and had no criminal record.
Mental competency ruling
The indictment came a day after Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Maria Cavalluzzi found Ortiz mentally competent to stand trial on Tuesday, Sept. 29, according to Billboard, citing the AP. “Criminal proceedings are reinstated,” Cavalluzzi said.
Months of psychiatric evaluations had put the Rihanna home shooting case on hold. The evaluation reports remain sealed, and no details about Ortiz’s mental state were discussed in open court.
What’s next
With the competency ruling in place and the indictment unsealed, the Rihanna home shooting case is back on track toward trial. Ortiz remains in custody. She has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent.
Reporting from NBC News (The Associated Press), Billboard and CBS Los Angeles contributed to this story.