LOS ANGELES — A woman charged with trying to murder Rihanna and with more than a dozen other felonies is set to appear in court to enter a plea Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege the singing superstar, her hip-hop star partner A$AP Rocky and their three young children were among the people assaulted at their home in the Beverly Hills area on March 8 when Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 35, of Orlando, Florida, pulled up to the property and sprayed bullets from an AR-15 style rifle into the tall exterior wall.
Ortiz is charged with 10 counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and three counts of shooting at an occupied vehicle or dwelling.
At her first appearance in Los Angeles Superior Court on March 11, Ortiz’s lawyer entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf, but then withdrew it in favor of postponing the arraignment.
Public records show Ortiz has been a licensed speech pathologist for more than a decade. Now jailed on $1.8 million bail, she could get life in prison if convicted on all charges.
The Public Defender’s Office said only that “we will work to ensure that our client receives the full protections guaranteed under the Constitution.”
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said when Ortiz was charged that Rihanna and Rocky were together in an Airstream trailer at the time of the shooting, while her mother, their children and staffers were in the main house.
The three counts of firing at a dwelling were for Rihanna’s house, her trailer, and a neighbor’s house, prosecutors said. The 10 assault counts were for Rihanna and family, two staffers and two people in the neighboring house.
Hochman would not say where any of the bullets landed, discuss a motive or describe any connection between Ortiz and Rihanna, saying all were under investigation. He also said his office was investigating social media posts from Ortiz from the days leading up to the gunfire.
A nine-time Grammy Award winner, Rihanna has 14 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including “We Found Love,” “Work,” “Umbrella” and “Disturbia.” She founded the makeup brand Fenty Beauty in 2017.
She and A$AP Rocky announced the birth of their third child, a girl named Rocki Irish Mayers, in September.
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