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 offenses including 10 counts of assault on a person with a semiautomatic firearm.
The district attorney’s office said 35-year-old Ivanna Lisette Ortiz was charged in the shooting Sunday afternoon outside the superstar’s gated home in the Beverly Hills area. No one was hurt and it was not clear if the Grammy award-winning performer was home at the time.
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 quickly brought into court Tuesday afternoon for an expected arraignment.
Deputy Public Defender Jamarcus Bradford, Ortiz’s attorney, at first entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf, but then withdrew it in favor of postponing arraignment until March 25. She was ordered held on $1.8 million bail. Ortiz wore blue jail clothes with her blond hair in braids and spoke to her lawyer through a glass divider.
The judge issued a protective order for Ortiz to stay away from Robin Fenty and Rakim Mayers – the legal names of Rihanna and her partner A$AP Rocky – and their home. The judge also said she is not allowed to possess any firearms or ammunition along with several other conditions.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told media gathered for a news conference on a different subject earlier Tuesday that 10 people were at home at the time. He identified the house as Rihanna’s, but he did not say whether she, her partner A$AP Rocky or their three children were home when the shots were fired.
McDonnell said investigators believe Ortiz drove to the area from Florida, but it’s not clear when. Public records show her most recent address was in Orlando and that she has been a licensed speech pathologist for more than a decade.
Authorities have not said if she has any connection to Rihanna.
Ortiz was arrested Sunday afternoon after the shooting and a weapon was recovered, police said
It was unclear if she has an attorney. Voicemails could not be left on a phone number listed under her name, and no one immediately responded to an email seeking comment sent to an address listed in her name. An email to the public defender’s office was also not immediately answered.
The Associated Press sent emails seeking comment from Rihanna’s publicist and manager.
KABC-TV broadcast video that appeared to show five bullet holes in the home’s front gate. The news station obtained police dispatch audio that says 10 shots were fired.
In 2018, a man was accused of breaking into another home belonging to Rihanna in the Hollywood Hills and spending 12 hours there. The man pleaded no contest to felony counts of stalking and vandalism and a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest in 2019. He was sentenced to probation.
A nine-time Grammy Award winner, Rihanna has 14 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including “We Found Love,” “Work,” “Umbrella” and “Disturbia.” She founded the makeup brand Fenty Beauty in 2017.
She and A$AP Rocky announced the birth of their third child, a girl named Rocki Irish Mayers, in September.
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Associated Press Writer Christopher Weber contributed.
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