Rihanna Home Shooting Suspect Faces Personal Loss as Court Tightens Custody Restrictions

Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, the 35-year-old woman accused of firing at Rihanna’s home, has lost the custody of her child amid an ongoing legal battle. A Florida court has barred her from contacting her child until further notice.

The child’s father, Jed Sangalang, now has full custody and will be responsible for the child’s daily care. The only way Ortiz could still see her child is if Sangalang personally approves the meeting.

The woman has been in a legal battle with her child’s father for more than 10 years, as the proceedings began back in 2015. Apart from the Rihanna case, the judge noted that Ortiz was previously placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold in Florida.

While Ortiz said the accusations against her were false, the court determined that her behavior could pose a threat to her child, and hence, granted Sangalang 100 percent time-sharing rights.

Ortiz was arrested on the afternoon of March 8 after she allegedly drove a white Tesla to Rihanna’s home in the Beverly Crest neighborhood in Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, she fired around 20 rounds from an AR-15-style rifle at the residence.

Rihanna, her partner A$AP Rocky, their three children, Rihanna’s mother, and several staff members were present at the property at that time. The bullets hit the main house, a neighbor’s home, and an Airstream trailer. Fortunately, nobody was harmed in the attack.

About 30 minutes after the shooting, the police found Ortiz in a parking lot in Sherman Oaks. She has been charged with one count of attempted murder and 10 felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. The accused is also facing three counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or vehicle.

Ortiz has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. She is currently locked up in a prison with her bail set at $1.875 million. The defense requested that the court reduce the bail to $70,000, but the prosecution argued against it.

“This case involves a dangerous, deliberate shooting into occupied homes. This is the kind of conduct that could easily have resulted in multiple homicides,” Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott told the court. The judge ultimately denied the defense’s request, citing that Ortiz posed a major risk to the community.

As the investigation into the shooting began, detectives found that Ortiz, who worked as a speech-language pathologist in Florida, had made several questionable social media posts about Rihanna before the shooting. “Listen Rihanna, when you die, God is taking me to my future,” one post read.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) revealed that while the motive behind the shooting remains unclear, Ortiz’s social media profile points to her obsession with Rihanna. “We haven't established a motive, we do know, and are aware of, social media posts that had been made that they're looking into further,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement.