A woman has been charged with the attempted murder of Rihanna after shots were fired at the singer’s home in Beverly Hills.
Ivanna Lisette Ortiz is accused of firing a semiautomatic rifle at the Los Angeles mansion at 13:15 local time (21:15 GMT) on Sunday (March 8), when the singer and her partner A$AP Rocky were at home. Nobody was injured.
Appearing in court yesterday (March 10), in addition to the murder charge, police said Ortiz had also been charged with 10 counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and three counts of shooting at an inhabited vehicle or dwelling.
The three shooting charges related to Rihanna’s house, her trailer, which she was inside at the time, and her neighbour’s property while the assault charges cover Rihanna, her family, two members of staff, and two people in the neighbouring house, according to Sky News.
Ortiz’s lawyer Jamarcus Bradford initially entered a not guilty plea on her behalf, but it was withdrawn ahead of an arraingment hearing later this month. She is being held on a $1.8m (£1.4m) bail.
Ortiz has been accused of driving up to the front of the house and firing the weapon multiple times at it, before fleeing, reports BBC News.
Her white Tesla was later found about eight miles from Rihanna’s home at the Sherman Oaks Galleria shopping centre, where the woman was taken into custody.
“Opening fire in any populated neighbourhood is extremely dangerous, puts lives at risk and will be fully prosecuted,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.
Prosecutors noted that there were people in Rihanna’s home as well as the property adjacent to it at the time of the shooting.
“This careless violence will not be tolerated in our community. Such shooters will find their next destination to be our jails and prisons,” Hochman added.
