Rihanna's Alleged Shooter Indicted on Attempted Murder Charges
A Florida woman faces up to life in prison after being indicted on multiple charges, including attempted murder, for allegedly firing into the singer's Beverly Hills home.
Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 36, has been indicted on charges including attempted murder, 10 counts of assault with an assault weapon, and three counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office announced. The indictment was unsealed Wednesday.
Prosecutors stated that on March 8, Ortiz drove to Rihanna's Southern California residence and fired an assault weapon multiple times at the house. At the time, the singer, her partner A$AP Rocky, their three young children, and several other individuals were inside the home. No one was injured in the incident, which Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J Hochman described as a "serious, violent crime that is both reckless and dangerous."
Ortiz, who is from Orlando, Florida, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Her bail has been set at $2.65 million, and she is scheduled for a court hearing on October 29. If convicted, she faces a potential sentence of up to life in prison.
Authorities arrested Ortiz in Sherman Oaks, California. In a previous hearing in April, prosecutors noted that Ortiz allegedly arrived at the property with a loaded weapon, ammunition, and a wig for disguise, stating the incident "could easily have resulted in multiple homicides…of adults and children."
Rihanna had reportedly informed authorities that she had received death threats via social media in the past but none that had risen to a serious level, and no recent events immediately came to mind that could be linked to this incident.
Evidence at the scene revealed bullet holes on various parts of the property, including an exterior gate, a fence, a patio, a wall adjacent to a nursery room, and the windshield of an Airstream trailer. Legal documents indicated that Rihanna and A$AP Rocky were in the trailer during the shooting, while their children were in the nursery.
Ortiz, who previously lost her license to practice speech-language pathology following the incident, was recently deemed mentally competent to stand trial after a four-month evaluation, according to The Los Angeles Times. Court records show Ortiz had prior arrests in 2023 for alleged domestic violence and battery, and in 2021 for alleged careless driving, along with a linked 2013 bankruptcy filing.
Ortiz had also made social media posts mentioning Rihanna, including one in February that read, "Say something to me directly instead of sneaking around."