A Los Angeles judge suspended criminal proceedings against Ivanna Ortiz, the woman accused of firing 20 rounds at Rihanna’s home, to assess her mental fitness for trial. The ruling comes a week after the same judge denied a similar defense request.
The attempted murder case against Ivanna Ortiz, the 35-year-old accused of shooting at Rihanna’s Los Angeles home while the singer and her family were inside, has been suspended. Judge Shannon Cooley halted proceedings Tuesday after a closed-door meeting with a public defender and ordered a mental competency evaluation. A court source confirmed the move to Rolling Stone.
Ortiz was arrested in March after police said she drove to the property and fired an AR-15-style rifle roughly 20 times. According to a police report, Rihanna heard “loud sounds like something banging on metal,” saw bullet holes in the windshield of the Airstream trailer where she and A$AP Rocky were staying, and pushed the rapper to the ground. The couple then ran to secure their young children and Rihanna’s mother. Prosecutors called it a calculated attack, noting Ortiz brought a loaded rifle, ammunition, and a wig as a disguise.
Last week, the same judge rejected a similar defense motion, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to override Ortiz’s demand for trial. But after Tuesday’s hearing, Cooley found sufficient grounds to question her competency. Ortiz has been referred to the county’s mental health court and a psychiatrist will prepare a report. Her first appearance in that court was set for June 2. She has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and shooting at an inhabited dwelling.
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