Michael Latt, a social justice advocate and Hollywood figure, was targeted and killed this week because he was friends with a woman the attacker was stalking, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
Jameelah Michl fatally shot Latt, 33, after she forced her way into his Los Angeles home around 6 p.m. Monday, the district attorney’s office and police said.
Michl, 36, is charged with one count of murder and one count of first-degree residential burglary with person present, the district attorney’s office said.
She “targeted him for being friends with a woman she had been stalking,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.
Michl is accused of knocking on the door of the home, then forcing her way in when it was opened and shooting Latt with a handgun.
Los Angeles police said Michl, who lived in her car, remained at the scene. She was being held on $3 million bail, jail records showed.
Online court records did not appear to show an attorney for Michl. Her arraignment was continued until Dec. 15, the district attorney’s office said.
Latt was the founder of social impact marketing agency “Lead With Love,” and led campaigns alongside major artists and brands, including “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler, and “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins.
He was the son of film producer David Latt and Michelle Satter, the founding senior director at the Sundance Institute.
“Our beloved son Michael Latt fell victim to a tragic act of violence this week,” Satter wrote in a post on X. “Michael devoted his career to supporting artists, championing organizations that raised up artists of color, & leveraged storytelling for enduring change.”
Celebrities, activists and other fans expressed their condolences in the comments on a post on Latt’s Instagram about his death.
“Michael was a shining beacon of selfless kindness and consistency,” “Grey’s Anatomy” actor Jesse Williams wrote in a comment. “We’ve all been incredibly blessed to know him and that such goodness surrounds us still.”
District Attorney George Gascón called Latt “a passionate advocate who believed in the principles of justice and equity within our criminal legal system.”
“It is devastating to see a life cut short, especially one dedicated to fighting for a more just society,” Gascón said.
If convicted, Michl faces up to life in prison, the district attorney’s office said.
