Hollywood activist Michael Latt killed by homeless woman over friendship with director she’d been stalking: DA

Michael Latt — a studio consultant and well-known social justice advocate — was fatally shot by a homeless woman earlier this week over his friendship with a Hollywood director, who was also being stalked by the suspected killer, officials allege.

Latt was gunned down inside his home in Mid-Wilshire Monday night. Around 6:30 p.m. the suspect — who has since been identified as Jemeelah Michl — knocked on the front door and then forced her way inside the residence, where she shot Latt with a semi-automatic handgun, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement on Thursday. He noted an accomplice, who has not been named, was also present at the time of the violence.

Latt was the founder and CEO of Lead With Love, an organization that works to support “influential women and artists of color,” according to its website. He also worked as a communications and marketing advisor to the likes of Netflix, Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY, Warner Bros Pictures, Common, and Annapurna Pictures, Deadline reported.

Michl targeted 33-year-old Latt over his ties to “a woman she had been stalking,” Gascón said. While he stopped short of releasing her name, ABC 7 identified her as film director A.V. Rockwell, who sought a restraining order against Michl this summer in L.A. County Superior Court. In requesting the order, Rockwell revealed Michl was hired as a background actor in her 2023 film “A Thousand and One.”

In the weeks after, Michl attempted to befriend the director, sending her lengthy letters and unsolicited gifts, according to court documents obtained by the news station. Michl also allegedly attended two publicity events for the film “ignoring my obvious discomfort with her attempts to connect and build a personal relationship,” Rockwell wrote.

The director said the more she resisted Michl’s friendship advances, the more aggressive she became. In one note she seemingly hinted at committing suicide, writing to Rockwell that “My Glock is loaded as I write this,” and then, “One pull of the trigger and I’ll be free.”

“She has made multiple attempts to emotionally blackmail me, threatening to ruin my career and derail the success of the film by going public about my alleged abandonment of a suicidal person,” Rockwell wrote in court documents.

Authorities said Michl remained on the scene of the shooting and was arrested by responding officers. Police said she was living in her car at the time of the attack.

Her next court appearance is set for Dec. 15.