The woman accused of firing an assault weapon at Rihanna’s Beverly Hills mansion earlier this month has pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 35, of Orlando, Florida, entered her plea on Wednesday morning at L.A.’s Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, according to court records viewed by The Hollywood Reporter. Previously, Deputy Public Defender Derek Ray Dillman had entered a not guilty plea on her behalf on March 11; it was later withdrawn in favor of postponing the arraignment.
Ortiz has been charged with one count of attempted murder, 10 felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm and three felony counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper. She is being held on $1.875 million bail and could face life in prison.
Dillman asked that Ortiz’s bail be reduced from $1.9 million to $70,000 based on her ability to pay, but Judge Theresa McGonigle declined the request.
On the afternoon of March 8, Ortiz is accused of driving up to Rihanna’s home in a white Tesla on the 9500 block of Heather Road in L.A. and firing multiple rounds from a semi-automatic weapon at the house. There were people on the property as well as in an adjacent house, according to a statement from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. No one was struck by the gunfire, the office said.
Ortiz fled the scene but was arrested a short time later in Sherman Oaks, the D.A.’s office said. She had an AR-15-style weapon and additional rounds of ammunition in the vehicle.
“Opening fire in any populated neighborhood is extremely dangerous, puts lives at risk and will be fully prosecuted,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said at the time of Ortiz’s indictment. “Thankfully, no one was injured in this shooting, but this careless violence will not be tolerated in our community. Such shooters will find their next destination to be our jails and prisons.”
Ortiz has been a licensed speech pathologist for more than 10 years, the Associated Press reported. The state attorney general requested that Ortiz be barred from practicing in California; the judge granted the request.
