The woman accused of trying to kill Rihanna by opening fire on the singer’s gated Los Angeles property last March while the superstar singer, her partner A$AP Rocky, their three children, and her mother were home is facing upgraded charges disclosed in a new indictment unsealed Wednesday. Ivanna Ortiz appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to all 14 counts in the new indictment, which was made public one day after she was found competent to stand trial. The indictment retains the previously filed charge of attempted murder of Rihanna and three felony counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper.
It also upgrades 10 previously filed assault charges, this time accusing Ortiz of using an assault weapon. She had previously been charged in those counts with assault using a semiautomatic firearm. A police report previously obtained by Rolling Stone alleged that Ortiz fired shots that pierced the home’s nursery as well as the windshield of an Airstream trailer parked in the driveway.
According to the report, Rihanna was inside the Airstream with A$AP Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, when she heard “approximately ten loud sounds like something banging on metal.” She opened the curtains and “observed bullet holes in the windshield directly in front of where she had been standing,” the report said. Rihanna “grabbed Rakim out of bed, told him they were being shot at, and pushed both of them to the ground,” the report said. The couple then ran into the garage and moved quickly to secure their children and staff, police said.
Asked after the hearing whether prosecutors had considered seeking attempted murder charges involving Mayers or other family members, Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said Ortiz had one intended target. He added that the firearms charges were upgraded after an expert examined the weapon recovered in the case. Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century Ortiz, 36, is due back in court Oct. 29 for a pretrial hearing.
She was sent back to jail Wednesday with her bail set at $2.65 million. If convicted as charged, she faces up to life in state prison. Witnesses to the March 8 shooting reported seeing a white Tesla Model 3 with a paper license plate fleeing the scene.
A police helicopter quickly located the vehicle, leading to Ortiz’s arrest. Investigators later found six bullet holes in the vehicle gate at Rihanna’s home and a seventh in a pedestrian gate, according to court documents obtained by Rolling Stone. Inside the property, police found three bullet holes in a wooden fence obscured by tall hedges.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
