Entertainment advisor killed by girl who stalked his film director friend, prosecutors say

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A high-profile leisure internet marketing consultant was specific by a female who experienced been stalking and threatening a film director pal of his in advance of she fatally shot him right after her forcing her way inside of his Los Angeles house, according to prosecutors and court information acquired Thursday.

This week’s slaying of Michael Latt despatched shockwaves by Hollywood as the suspect faces charges of murder and burglary. Latt, 33, had worked on jobs with filmmakers such as Ryan Coogler and Ava DuVernay, as well as rap artist Typical.

He was pronounced useless Monday at a clinic. Prosecutors allege that Jameelah Elena Michl, 36, knocked on his home’s door and forced herself within once it was open.

She had sought out Latt’s property “after she qualified him for becoming pals with a female she had been stalking,” the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office environment reported in a information release Thursday. She allegedly fired at him with a semi-automated handgun.

The suspect previously experienced a restraining purchase submitted from her by a friend of Latt’s, film director A.V. Rockwell, who explained in courtroom filings that Michl worked as an added in one of her movies, “A Thousand And 1.” Soon after manufacturing concluded, Michl commenced to stalk Rockwell, the director claimed in a June software for the get.

Rockwell reported immediately after she did not reply to Michl’s overtures for a individual marriage, the female hand-delivered alarming letters to the director’s home threatening self-hurt.

“My Glock is loaded as I compose this,” Michl wrote in one particular letter, in accordance to the courtroom filings. “One pull of the cause and I’ll be totally free.”

Rockwell was not at Latt’s dwelling when he was shot, authorities claimed.

Michl’s arraignment in the killing was continued to Dec. 15, so she has not yet entered a plea, and prosecutors are seeking $3 million bail. If convicted, she could facial area a sentence of everyday living in jail. Michl will be represented by a general public defender, although a person had not nonetheless been assigned to her scenario, the public defender’s place of work mentioned.

Detectives seized Michl’s car or truck, which she had been dwelling in, as proof. She stayed at the scene and was taken into custody.

In January, Latt and Rockwell both of those attended the Sundance Film Pageant, where by Rockwell’s film won the Grand Jury Prize. Latt posted a image with Rockwell on Instagram with the caption, “Congratulations to @AVRockwell on your extraordinary attribute movie directorial debut, A Thousand and Just one.”

Michl despatched “at minimum 5 extremely prolonged and threatening emails and textual content messages,” frequently identified as Rockwell’s cell cell phone and approached the director at general public activities, the documents exhibit.

“As you go on to bask in the glory of ‘A Thousand and A person,’ l want you to bear in mind, and not neglect all the hell that folks went via to support convey your masterpiece to the screen,” Michl wrote in an April 29 e-mail.

On May possibly 3, Michl wrote all over again, threatening suicide.

“I’m taking my Glock into Griffith Park and not coming out,” she wrote in an email.

Rockwell received the restraining order reissued on several occasions, in accordance to court docket paperwork. A agent for Rockwell did not quickly answer to an e-mail Thursday in search of comment from the director.

Latt’s marketing organization, Guide with Enjoy, focused on social effects, and he was impressed to start off the enterprise just after performing on Coogler’s movie “Fruitvale Station,” about the 2009 lethal police taking pictures of Oscar Grant in Oakland, California, that starred Michael B. Jordan, and needed to immediate his initiatives towards social justice movements.

He was born into a clearly show organization family members: His mom, Michelle Satter, is just one of the founding administrators of the Sundance Institute’s artists courses, exactly where she has assisted filmmakers these as Coogler and Quentin Tarantino early in their occupations. His father, David Latt, is a film producer, and his brother is an agent.

Latt experienced also worked at the Sundance Institute, which issued a assertion on behalf of his relatives.

“He devoted his vocation to serving other individuals, using storytelling, art, and a variety of mediums to build enduring improve and galvanizing communities with hope, adore, and inspiration,” the assertion claimed. “Michael will never ever be forgotten and his legacy and get the job done will have on as a result of his loved ones, his friends, and his colleagues.”

Latt also worked with Prevalent, on the Oscars campaign for the track “Letter to the Totally free,” and with DuVernay. Together, they introduced a live performance jail tour and helped created Common’s nonprofit Picture Justice.

“The second I realized that I could use my talent established for social good, I resolved to devote the relaxation of my career to assisting other people, empowering storytellers of color, and combating injustice wherever it stands,” Latt explained to Forbes in 2019. “Through tales and art, we can showcase incarcerated and previously incarcerated men and women’s humanity, glow a mild on injustices in the process and change the narrative about how we communicate about the difficulties.”

Rockwell’s film “ A Thousand and One,” starring Teyana Taylor as a single mom, received a Gotham Award on Monday night for breakthrough director.

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Connected Press Film Writer Lindsey Bahr contributed.

Stefanie Dazio And Christopher Weber, The Connected Push