Woman sentenced for killing Hollywood consultant Michael Latt in ambush at his LA home
A woman who admitted to ambushing and murdering Hollywood consultant and social justice advocate Michael Latt at his Los Angeles home was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years to life in state prison.
Jameelah Elena Michl, 36, pleaded guilty last month to one count of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree burglary for killing of Latt, who has been remembered and mourned in LA's entertainment circles as a film marketing consultant and strategist committed to elevating artists of color and social justice causes. He founded a firm called Lead With Love, working with artists such as Common, "Selma" director Ava DuVernay and Academy Award-winning screenwriter and "Moonlight" director Barry Jenkins.
On Nov. 27, 2023, Michl knocked on the door of Latt's home in the Mid-Wilshire area of LA and forced herself in after someone there answered the door.
Once inside, she fatally shot 33-year-old Latt with a semi-automatic handgun.
But prosecutors said Michl's motivation behind the killing involved someone else entirely — a woman she had been stalking that happened to be friends with Latt.
Michl became obsessed with filmmaker A.V. Rockwell after she worked as an extra on Rockwell's directorial debut, the award-winning independent film A Thousand and One, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing court records. When the movie screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2023, Latt congratulated Rockwell in a heartfelt post to Instagram.
When Michl first reached out, she gave Rockwell a gift after the film ended production and seemed to just admire the director but those interactions later shifted in character when she started threatening to kill herself if Rockwell didn't answer her emails, the Times reported. That led to Rockwell filing a restraining order against Michl in June 2023.
Michl killed Latt less than six months later.
Rockwell was among many in Hollywood's social justice circles who paid tribute to Latt after his death. The 33-year-old had roots in the film industry with his mother, Michelle Satter, a film executive who has worked in leading roles at Sundance since it's founding. She mourned her son's death in an X post remembering his work as an advocate.
"Our beloved son Michael Latt fell victim to a tragic act of violence this week," Satter wrote. "Michael devoted his career to supporting artists, championing organizations that raised up artists of color, & leveraged storytelling for enduring change. We celebrate his legacy, love & compassion."
