(NewsNation) — Many are in mourning after Hollywood executive Michael Latt was fatally shot in his home Monday night.
Prosecutors allege Jameelah Elena Michl, 36, knocked on Latt’s door, forced herself inside the home and then fired at him with a semi-automatic handgun. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Michl is now in custody after staying at the scene of the crime and being escorted out of Latt’s home.
Police have not yet released a motive, but the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release Michl sought Latt out “after she targeted him for being friends with a woman she had been stalking.”
NewsNation requested Michl’s mugshot from authorities, but they said they wouldn’t release it at this time.
“I keep picturing his face, and I can’t believe he’s passed,” his neighbor, Avarie Shevin, said, adding that she didn’t hear a gunshot. “It’s the kind of thing where like if there’s a gunshot a mile away, I hear it. So how do I not hear it right there?”
Latt, an entertainment marketing consultant, founded Lead with Love, a firm focused on social impact and promoting love instead of fear through music and movies.
In 2019, Forbes profiled Latt, who said that when he realized he could use his skill set for good, he wanted to dedicate the rest of his career to helping others.
His mother, Michelle Satter, one of the founding directors of the Sundance Institute’s artists programs, said on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, that the family is celebrating Latt’s legacy of love and compassion.
“Michael devoted his career to supporting artists, championing organizations that raised up artists of color, & leveraged storytelling for enduring change,” she wrote.
Writer and comedian Akila Hughes called Latt “the definitive ally” and said he “used every tool he had to elevate the voices and work of Black creatives.”
“So much love to his mother and family and everyone who knew him,” Hughes wrote.
The Sundance Institute said Latt dedicated his career to serving others.
“Michael will never be forgotten and his legacy and work will carry on through his family, his friends, and his colleagues,” it wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
