Homeless woman admits killing social justice activist at his LA home because he was friends with film director she was stalking
Michael Latt’s death rocked Hollywood after he was shot and killed in his home last year
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A woman has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of a Hollywood social justice advocate, who was shot and killed inside his Los Angeles home last year.
Jameelah Elena Michl, 36, admitted to committing first-degree murder and first-degree burglary, court records obtained by the Associated Press showed.
Michl became a suspect last year in the murder of 33-year-old Michael Latt, who was a movie marketing consultant and a social justice advocate, after a woman entered his home and shot him.
Michl admitted using a firearm in the attack, which is considered a felony offense.
Early on, authorities accused the suspect of targeting the victim because he was “friends with a woman she had been stalking,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement in November.
“She allegedly knocked on the door, forcing herself into the residence once it was opened by one of the occupants.
“Michl, who was allegedly armed with a semi-automatic handgun, shot and killed the victim inside of the home.”
She faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, with no parole considered for 25 years. She is slated to be sentenced on July 10.
Court documents show that the suspect previously had a restraining order taken out against her by film director AV Rockwell, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Court filings from June 2023 state that Michl had worked as an extra in her movie A Thousand and One, and after production on the movie ended, she allegedly began to stalk Rockwell.
The director stated in court papers that when she did not pursue a personal relationship with Michl, the suspect delivered hand-written letters to her home, threatening to harm herself.
“My Glock is loaded as I write this,” said one letter, according to the newspaper. “One pull of the trigger and I’ll be free.”
Prosecutors accused Michl of going to the victim’s residence on 27 November and killing him. That very same night, AV Rockwell won a breakthrough director award at the Gotham Awards in New York for A Thousand and One.
Latt’s death was felt throughout Los Angeles after news spread of his murder. The consultant was the founder and CEO of Lead With Love, a marketing firm he founded to elevate Black and other underrepresented creatives in Hollywood.
During his career, he oversaw marketing campaigns with the likes of musician Common and movie director Ryan Coogler, whose repertoire includes the Black Panther franchise.
Latt also became a communications consultant for When They See Us director Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Now, and the marketing director for Blackout for Human Rights, which Coogler founded to speak out on police killings.
Just over a month since Latt’s death, his mother, Michelle Satter, a founding director of the Sundance Institute, was given an honorary Oscar for her humanitarian work.
During the ceremony, Satter and the two directors she mentored who also presented her the award, Coogler and Chloe Zhao, paid tribute to her late son.
“Michelle, you’ve changed our lives, but I do believe Michael was your greatest gift to the world,” Coogler said.
Satter said that she wanted to share the award with her Latt, who she said “led with love.”