The Los Angeles court has determined that Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, the woman accused of shooting with a semi-automatic rifle against the residence of singer Rihanna and her partner, rapper A$AP Rocky, is mentally trained to face a criminal trial.
The decision was announced by Magistrate Maria Cavalluzzi, which formally reactivated the judicial process that remained suspended while the corresponding psychiatric examinations were carried out.
Ortiz, 36, declared himself not guilty of the March 8 attack in the exclusive neighborhood of Beverly Crest, Los Angeles. After the court ruling, the criminal charges continue their ordinary course. If found guilty of all the charges, the defendant could face a life imprisonment. He is currently under custody with a bail of $1.8 million.
According to the reconstruction of the case presented by the prosecutor's office, Ortiz drove a Tesla vehicle to the vicinity of the artists' property and fired at least 20 shots with an AR-15 type assault rifle. The raids hit the structure of the housing and an adjacent residence.
At the time of the shooting, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky were inside a trailer parked at the entrance of the house. Judicial documents revealed that the couple had to throw themselves to the ground to protect themselves after hearing the impacts on the structure and seeing the umbrella perforated.
Despite the severity of the attack, no injuries were. Within the property were also the three younger children of the couple — 3 years, 2 years and 5 months — along with their babysitter, the singer’s mother and domestic staff, while in the neighboring house there were two people. Forensic experts found bullet impacts on the pedestrian gate, a wooden fence and the exterior wall of the children’s room.
At the time of his arrest, on the same day of the events, police found a rifle, ammunition and a blonde hairdresser inside the vehicle. Ortiz, a non-criminal phonoaudiologist from Orlando, Florida, has not revealed the motives for the attack. However, authorities detected messages addressed to Rihanna on social media, where she demanded to speak directly to her.
