By Andrew Dalton & Stefanie Dazio
LOS ANGELES (AP) --A woman who pleaded guilty to killing entertainment consultant and social justice advocate Michael Latt was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison on Wednesday.
Jameelah Elena Michl had been stalking and threatening film director A.V. Rockwell and targeted Latt because he was Rockwell's friend, prosecutors and police said. Michl pleaded guilty last month to charges of first-degree murder and first-degree burglary in connection with the November attack.
The public defender's office, which represented Michl, confirmed her sentence. The district attorney's office did not immediately have a comment following Wednesday's hearing.
Latt was a consultant whose company focused on social impact in film and entertainment. He worked with "Selma" director Ava DuVernay and "Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler, among many others, and his death was mourned throughout Hollywood.
Prosecutors alleged that Michl knocked on the door of Latt's Los Angeles home on Nov. 27, 2023, forced her way in and fatally shot him with a semi-automatic handgun. He was declared dead at a hospital.
Weeks later Latt's mother, Michelle Satter, received an Oscar for her work as a founding director of the Sundance Institute, and her part of the ceremony became a tribute to her son.
Coogler, who presented the award, described her son as Satter's "greatest gift to the world." Satter told the audience she wanted to share the award with Latt, who always "led with love."
Michl's public defender, Kimberly Wong, read a statement for her client during Wednesday's proceeding.
"Ms. Michl changed her plea to guilty in order to take responsibility for her actions and do the right thing for all involved," Wong told the court. "At the time of the shooting she had been homeless on the streets of Los Angeles for nine months and struggling with multiple traumatic events. She is deeply saddened by the tremendous amount of pain she has caused to so many and hopes that her change in plea will help everyone to be able to heal and move forward."
Wong declined to comment further on the case.
ESPN and other channels return to DirecTV with a new Disney deal after a nearly 2-week blackout
DirecTV announced Saturday it had reached a deal with Walt Disney Co. that will restore ESPN and ABC-owned stations to its service after a nearly 2-week dispute that blacked out those networks for millions of viewers across the U.S.
The end of the impasse came in time for sports fans to watch ESPN's slate of college football games on DirecTV. It also will ensure that ABC's telecast of the Emmy Awards on Sunday night will be available in more major markets where viewers subscribe to DirecTV's pay service.
ABC had been unavailable since Sept. 1 on DirecTV in several markets where the station is owned by Disney. Those were located in the San Francisco Bay Area; Fresno, California; New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; Houston; and Raleigh, North Carolina.
DirecTV's 11 million subscribers abruptly lost access to ESPN, the ABC-owned stations and other Disney-owned channels such as FX and National Geographic during the Labor Day weekend in a dispute over carriage fees and programming flexibility.
Some viewers were watching the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament when ESPN suddenly went dark and others were getting ready to watch a college football showdown between LSU and Southern California.
The impasse also kept the NFL's opening game of Monday Night Football off of DirecTV's service.
Financial details of Disney's new deal with DirecTV weren't disclosed as part of Saturday's announcement. DirecTV's payments to Disney will be based on "market-based" pricing, according to the announcement about the deal.
The agreement also will give DirecTV the ability to offer Disney's video streaming services a la carte as well as in its own bundled packages. DirecTV won the right to include ESPN's forthcoming direct-to-consumer... Read More