A Florida woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that she sprayed bullets at Rihanna’s West LA home earlier this month while the pop star was home with her husband and children.
Ivana Ortiz, 35, was charged with attempted murder and nine counts of assaultfollowing the March 8 incident. Police say Ortiz raided Rihanna’s Beverly Crest property with an assault rifle, striking an Airstream trailer on the property, the singer’s home and a neighbor’s home.
No one was hit, but a law enforcement source previously told The Times that Rihanna and her husband, hip-hop star ASAP Rocky, were in the Airstream at the time and “could easily have been hit.”
Prosecutors said the couple’s three children, Rihanna’s mother, two staff members and two of the singer’s neighbors were all home at the time as well and listed as victims in the complaint.
During a brief court hearing in downtown LA, Ortiz appeared in a yellow jail jumper with her blonde hair tied back. She entered a not guilty plea through her attorney, LA County Deputy Public Defender Derek Dillman.
Dillman asked the court to lower her bail to $70,000 due to financial constraints. But LA County Superior Court Judge Theresa McGonigle denied that request after LA County Deputy Dist. Atty. Alex Bott argued Ortiz is a threat to public safety, saying she allegedly plotted the attack in advance and fired off roughly 20 rounds in Rihanna’s neighborhood.
“This is the kind of conduct that could have easily resulted in multiple homicides,” Bott said.
Ortiz remains jailed in lieu of $1.8 million. If convicted as charged, she faces life in state prison.
Ortiz was arrested without incident less than an hour after the shooting by Los Angeles police officers in Sherman Oaks. Bott said in court that Ortiz was arrested while in possession of the rifle, extra ammunition and a wig she used as a disguise.
The LA County public defender’s office has not commented on the allegations.
Police have not disclosed a motive in the attack. Ortiz, a licensed speech therapist from Orlando, Fla., had made a number of angry social media posts about Rihanna in the weeks before the shooting. Ortiz falsely claimed the singer had AIDS and demanded Rihanna “say something to me directly instead of sneaking around like you talking to me where I’m not at,” according to the posts.
Rihanna and Rocky have not spoken publicly about the incident.
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