Rihanna home shooting suspect ruled fit to stand trial as case resumes

Criminal proceedings will resume against the woman accused of firing more than 20 rounds at Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s Beverly Hills home, after a Los Angeles judge ruled she is mentally fit to stand trial.

Judge Maria Cavalluzzi made the ruling at a Los Angeles County court hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 29. She told the courtroom: “Criminal proceedings are reinstated.” The decision followed months of psychiatric evaluations, Billboard reported.

The accused woman, identified as 36-year-old Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, did not speak at the hearing. She has remained in custody since her arrest in March.

Ortiz faces 13 felony charges. They include one count of attempted murder, 10 counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and three counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling. The attempted murder allegation names Rihanna as the intended victim, according to ABC7. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges. If convicted, she faces up to life in state prison.

Prosecutors allege Ortiz drove to the Beverly Hills neighbourhood on March 8 and fired from an AR-15-style rifle out of the window of her Tesla. More than 20 rounds were fired at the house. A police helicopter then followed her car to a parking lot at a Sherman Oaks shopping centre, where she was arrested about half an hour after the 911 call.

Rihanna was home at the time with the couple’s three children and a nanny. No injuries were reported. Authorities later found bullet holes in the property’s gate and in an RV parked in the driveway.

Ortiz, described as an Orlando, Florida, native, is being held on $1.875 million bail. A judge had ordered a mental health evaluation in May after questions were raised about her competency to stand trial. Competency in this context means whether a defendant understands the charges and can assist in her own defence.

She is due back in court on Wednesday.