A Florida woman who allegedly opened fire with a rifle on singer Rihanna’s home in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles — along with another nearby home — pleaded not guilty Wednesday to attempted murder and multiple firearms-related offenses.
Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 35, was ordered to return to court April 8, when a date will be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for her to stand trial.
She remains jailed in lieu of $1.875 million bail, despite a defense attorney’s request to lower her bail to an amount that she can afford.
At her last court appearance, she was ordered not to have any contact with Rihanna or the singer’s partner, Rakim “A$AP Rocky” Mayers.
In the downtown Los Angeles courtroom, Ortiz was also directed not to practice as a speech-language pathologist in California, where she has been licensed since 2016, while the criminal case is pending.
She is charged with one count of attempted murder involving Rihanna, whose real name is Robyn Fenty, along with 10 counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, two counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling and one count of shooting at an inhabited vehicle, as well as allegations that she personally and intentionally discharged a rifle, according to the criminal complaint.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott told Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Theresa McGonigle that Ortiz fired about 20 rounds from an assault-style rifle and aimed the gunfire at an area where adults and children were present, “putting numerous lives at risk.” He called her alleged conduct “extremely dangerous,” and said Ortiz was subsequently found in a vehicle with a rifle, ammunition and a disguise — a wig.
The Los Angeles Police Department’s crime summary, which was attached to the request from the California Attorney General’s Office to bar Ortiz from practicing speech-language pathology, alleges that Ortiz drove a white Tesla Model 3 to the neighborhood and fired at least 20 rounds at the occupied residences. The document indicates that police discovered bullet holes or impacts on the exterior of the gate of Rihanna’s residence, a wooden fence, the front windshield of an Airstream trailer, a patio area and on the exterior wall of a “nursery room,” and also observed bullet impacts to a neighboring residence.
Rihanna told police that she was in the Airstream trailer with her partner, who was sleeping, when she suddenly heard approximately 10 loud sounds like something banging on metal, according to the LAPD’s crime summary. She told police that she opened the curtains after the noise stopped, and noticed bullet holes in the windshield directly in front of where she was standing, grabbed Mayers out of bed, told him they were being shot at and pushed both of them to the ground before they ran into the garage of their residence and went to “secure” their children and staff, according to the document.
Police noted that the singer told them that she had received death threats over social media in the past, but that most had never risen to a serious level, according to the crime summary.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told reporters earlier this month that the Orlando, Florida, woman is accused of driving up to Rihanna’s home just west of Beverly Hills at about 1:20 p.m. March 8 and firing multiple times from her semi-automatic weapon at the residence.
“Rihanna was there with her partner, her three children, her mother and two staff people, representing eight of the 10 of the counts of dealing with an assault with a semi-automatic firearm,” Hochman said then, noting that there are two dwellings at Rihanna’s residence, including the Airstream trailer containing Rihanna and Mayers.
“In addition, Miss Ortiz is accused of firing at a neighboring residence that had two additional individuals,” the district attorney said.
He noted then that Ortiz’s alleged motivation was still under investigation.
“Law enforcement will be looking at any videos on social media, at any additional evidence that they can uncover to both understand her motivation and why she did these particular acts,” Hochman said. “Law enforcement is in the process of gathering all evidence of motivation, any connections between the defendant and Rihanna if any so exist or why this particular defendant decided to open up and shoot her semi-automatic rifle on the afternoon of March 8th.”
Hochman said the woman then traveled through Beverly Hills and eventually ended up in Sherman Oaks, and was arrested “within hours.” He lauded the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills police departments for their prompt actions leading to Ortiz’s arrest.
If convicted, she could face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the district attorney said.
“I want everyone to understand in this county that you should absolutely feel safe in your residence and in your neighborhood and in your community,” Hochman said. “When an individual comes into our community and decides to shoot it up, that individual will be arrested and held fully accountable for her actions.”
According to the LAPD, officers responded to an assault with a deadly weapon/shots fired report and met the person who made the call. After obtaining suspect information, the suspect was located, taken into custody and a weapon was recovered, police said.
LAPD Capt. Mike Bland told reporters that the weapon was an AR-15-style rifle.
Ortiz was arrested in the parking lot of the Sherman Oaks Galleria about 30 minutes after the gunfire was reported, police said.
Helicopter footage after the shooting showed what appeared to be bullet holes in a gate, as well as the front of the home blocked by yellow crime-scene tape.
There were no reports of injuries.
The woman had once been involuntarily committed and lost custody of her then 10-year-old child, TMZ reported.
On what is believed to be Ortiz’s Facebook page, there were multiple videos and posts making reference to celebrities including Rihanna, Kim Kardashian and Cardi B.
One post from last February tags Rihanna, and says Ortiz was waiting for the singer “to say something to me directly instead of sneaking around like you talking to me where I’m not at.”
She referenced the singer again in a December post that states, “I’m already threw (sic) with Rihanna, Your turn hiding (expletive), Stop begging for a look.”
In another video, she says Rihanna wants to kill her.