- Woman charged with attempted murder, assault, and shooting at Rihanna’s home.
- Bail set at $1.875 million, lawyer’s request to reduce it denied.
- Don Lemon was supposed to visit friend near Rihanna’s home on day of shooting.
The woman accused of shooting at Rihanna’s Beverly Hills mansion has pleaded not guilty to several charges, including attempted murder.
Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 35, entered her plea at Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, March 25, per the Los Angeles Times. Earlier this month, her public defender previously entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf, but later withdrew it in favor of postponing the arraignment, according to Orlando news station WESH.
Ortiz, who is from Florida, is charged with one count of attempted murder, 10 felony counts of assault with an semiautomatic firearm, and three felony counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper. She is currently being held on $1.875 million bail and could face life in prison.
According to reports from the Associated Press, her lawyer asked that her bail be reduced to $70,000 based on her ability to pay, but the judge declined that request.
The woman is accused of driving to the estate shared by Rihanna, her longtime boyfriend A$AP Rocky, and their three children while they were home on March 8. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said she opened fire on the home with a semiautomatic rifle before allegedly fleeing the scene.
Though her alleged motive remains unclear, the licensed speech pathologist previously made cryptic posts on Facebook seemingly referencing the singer. One of those posts was made just two weeks prior to the shooting, which read, “Say something to me directly instead of sneaking around like you talking to me.”
Amid this not guilty plea, Don Lemon has spoken out about his “scary” close call with the shooting.
At the 12th Annual Better Brothers Los Angeles Truth Awards on Saturday, he told TMZ that he was supposed to be in the singer’s Beverly Hills neighborhood on the day shots were fired at her house.
“I have a friend that lives very near Rihanna and I could’ve been there because I was here in L.A. and we were supposed to stay with that friend, and it was frightening,” the former CNN host revealed. “And I remember the friend actually had damage to her house. So, it’s frightening. It’s really scary.”
As to why he ended up not being there, Lemon said, “It just so happened it was the day of the L.A. Marathon and we were going to go visit her, but we couldn’t get a car… and we went to the airport early.”
Lemon went on to say that he’s “glad [Rihanna] is OK.”
“Life is really precious and you never know, so you need to celebrate every day,” he told the outlet.
