Crime

Ivanna Ortiz -- the woman accused of shooting up Rihanna's house earlier this week -- allegedly sent her estranged husband messages about the singer weeks before the shooting.

In new court documents, Jed Valdez Sangalang attached an email he says Ortiz sent to him on January 26 that reads ... "I need you to renounce Rihanna and confess that I'm better than her. Let it be done. You gotta let me know so that door can be closed."

Sangalang says he learned of the Sunday shooting Monday after receiving calls and emails about Ortiz ... including some from news agencies asking for more information.

Retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland went missing last month … and his wife is fed up with all the misinformation about his disappearance. He vanished two weeks ago, on February 27, from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Neil's disappearance has been getting some attention because he spent his final two years in the USAF as a commander at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio … which has a lot of lore when it comes to UFOs.

Here’s where the conspiracy theories come in -- many people believe the base contains evidence of aliens from a mysterious 1947 crash in Roswell, NM.

But Neil’s wife, Susan McCasland Wilkerson, took to Facebook to insist her husband “does not have any special knowledge about the ET bodies and debris from the Roswell crash stored at Wright-Patt.”

She wrote … “This connection is not a reason for someone to abduct Neil.”

She also acknowledged Neil had access to some pretty classified stuff during his time in the Air Force, but thinks it’s “quite unlikely” that someone kidnapped him in order to learn his "very dated secrets."

The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office in New Mexico says Neil was home and spoke to a repairman at 10 AM on Feb. 27, a Friday. Susan left for a doctor’s appointment around 11 AM … but her husband was gone when she got back about an hour later.

Police say his phone and glasses were still at home, but his hiking boots and wallet were gone … along with a .38-caliber revolver.

Investigators found a gray USAF sweatshirt just over a mile away from Neil’s home, but no one’s confirmed if it’s actually his.

In her post, Susan mentioned there’s “absolutely no sign” of her husband, adding … “Maybe the best hypothesis is that aliens beamed him up to the mothership. However, no sightings of a mothership hovering above the Sandia Mountains have been reported.”

Laken Snelling's Snapchat could hold the key to prosecutors securing a conviction in their manslaughter case against her.

Local news station WKYT-TV obtained Snelling's full case file ... and, in it, cops asked a judge to sign off on a warrant for the former University of Kentucky cheerleader's Snapchat account.

When explaining why, cops cited the Snapchat group message the roommates used to communicate ... in which one of the roommates asked about a sound they heard at 4 AM on August 27, 2025 -- and another confirmed they heard it too.

Laken later responded in the chat -- just before 9 AM -- that she passed out and fell, causing the noise. After leaving the house, her roommates told cops they went to her room and found a deceased baby in a bag in the closet.

Swing and a miss for Blake Lively ... she tried to get legal sanctions against one of Justin Baldoni's lawyers ... but a judge wasn't buying it.

Here's the deal ... Blake's legal team filed a motion back in August, complaining to a judge about what Bryan Freedman was saying about her in the media. She asked the judge to sanction Freedman.

Well, on Friday, the judge denied Blake's motion ... according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ.

Victoria Gotti says she would rather forgo a kidney transplant from her son and let her disease take over her body than watch her oldest child heal from the procedure in prison.

TMZ spoke with Victoria on Thursday, and she tells us her rationale is rooted in what happened to her infamous dad, New York mobster John Gotti, when he went to federal prison.

Victoria says her father -- the former head of the Gambino crime family, who was convicted of racketeering and murder at his federal trial in 1992 -- died of throat cancer behind bars in 2002 at the age of 61.

She says she saw how her dad was treated with his health issues in prison, and she doesn't want that for her son, Carmine.

Andrea Constand -- who sent Bill Cosby to prison with her testimony about how he drugged and sexually assaulted her -- is now reportedly helping out a new victim of the disgraced actor-comedian.

Constand once again took the witness stand to give testimony on Thursday, but this time it was for a civil case filed by 84-year-old Cosby accuser, Donna Motsinger, according to The New York Times. Motsinger, a former waitress, claims she was 31 when Cosby drugged and raped her in 1972 after he brought her to one of his comedy shows.

Constand and two other women are being called as witnesses in the civil case because their stories are similar to Motsinger's. During hours of testimony in L.A. Superior Court, Constand described her horrific experience with Cosby in 2004 when she was the director of operations for the women’s basketball program at Temple University. Cosby was her mentor, who was an important alumnus at the college.

"Southern Hospitality" star Grace Lilly was arrested Tuesday ... and it looks like drugs were allegedly involved.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ, Grace was busted for possession of a controlled substance.

It appears Gracy has already been released from custody.

It's the second time in three months Grace has been arrested in South Carolina ... as we first told you, she got busted back in December in Charleston.

Cole Goldberg -- who was accused of trying to kill "90 Day Fiancé" alum Caroline Schwitzky -- has been found not guilty of attempted murder.

Goldberg was acquitted of the crime in a West Palm Beach, Florida courtroom on Thursday after three days of testimony.

Remember ... Schwitzky accused Goldberg of attempted murder back in 2022 -- claiming the two got into a heated argument at the Boca Bash that year, after she dumped Goldberg, and he then held her head underwater.

Witnesses told cops they yelled at Cole to stop, but he kept holding her down. Several people eventually jumped into the water to pull the couple apart.

Atlanta Falcons defensive end James Pearce Jr. is no longer facing a charge of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer after his alleged domestic dispute with Rickea Jackson, TMZ Sports has learned.

Court documents we obtained show that prosecutors have dropped the charge against the 22-year-old. A spokesperson for the DA said in evaluating all the evidence, they didn't believe they could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

It's a small break for Pearce -- the charge comes with up to five years behind bars.

He isn't out of the woods at all, though ... as prosecutors filed a handful of other charges in the incident -- including stalking, fleeing and eluding police, resisting an officer with violence, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

A survivor of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse says she can't remember all of the horrors he inflicted on her ... because her traumatized brain blocked the memories out.

We spoke to Marina Lacerda -- known as "Minor Victim-1" in legal documents, who revealed her identity back in September -- and asked her about a turning point in her association with the convicted pedophile.

Marina tells a story about gathering with other survivors of Epstein in recent years ... and, she says she was shocked to hear other survivors talk about Epstein raping them.

Rapper 42 Dugg is off the hook after he was charged with making malicious threats to a woman in Michigan ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs, the “Grace” rapper -- real name Dion Hayes -- sent messages to the unnamed individual between November 12, 2024 and March 11, 2025 with intent to "terrorize, frighten, intimidate, threaten, harass, molest, annoy, or disturb" the individual.

Prosecutors say the alleged victim was pregnant with his child when the threats were made ... and claim he sent such messages with the intent of coercing her to get an abortion. It's unclear if any baby was brought to term.

Hayes was also accused of threatening physical harm against her family.

He pleaded not guilty during his January court appearance, according to court docs. Hayes faced 6 months in the clink and a $1,000 fine if found guilty.

Ray J says Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner are totally lying about having no involvement with the release of the infamous sex tape ... and they should be prosecuted for it.

The rapper tells TMZ ... Kim and Kris "completely lied about everything" in their declarations yesterday -- calling lying to the world, as he alleges they did, "the worst thing you can do."

Ray J claims he sat in a room with Kris and Kim, as well as executives from the company Vivid -- the sex tape's distributor -- to discuss a deal. Vivid has always maintained that it obtained the sex tape from a third party.

A Connecticut man named Mike Gerchy appears to have been caught on video beating the crap out of a pit bull ... and now we're told police are investigating.

Check out the dramatic clip posted to Instagram ... which opens with a man body-slamming one of 2 canines in the living room of a house in Glastonbury, CT. You then see the man start kicking the poor pooch while yelling, "What is your f***ing problem?"

A frightened woman is standing in a doorway telling the man to "stop it" ... but he doesn't seem to listen and continues the beatdown, before shooing the dog up the stairs.

"The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" star Miranda McWhorter’s ex-husband Chase McWhorter is ready to fight prosecutors in court over accusations he drove on a suspended license months after being locked up for a DUI ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, Chase entered a plea of not guilty to one misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle without insurance, and one infraction for driving without a license, after being pulled over by police in Utah on January 25, 2026.

As part of his plea, Chase requested that prosecutors produce copies of all 911 calls related to the matter and any communications between officers about the incident.

A couple of days before Chase entered his plea, the court issued a bench warrant for failing to show up for court.

A nonverbal 7-year-old girl with autism was found dead in a retention pond near her Texas home this week ... and authorities do not suspect foul play, and they expect to close the case shortly.

Pearland PD spokesman Chad Rogers tells TMZ … the death of Skylar Hopson has been determined to be a "tragic accident" -- and unless today's autopsy tells anything different, police will conclude their investigation as far as any criminal component.

Police believe the child left her Pearland home on foot Wednesday, carrying an iPad ... her mother called 911 ... the child's body was located hours later in a nearby retention pond.

Lil Nas X looks much better months after he was arrested while wandering through Los Angeles naked last year ... all smiles while walking into a courthouse Thursday.

The rapper strode up to the court in a light gray suit and blue tie ... looking very positive as he mounted the steps.

Lil Nas' attorney Christy O'Connor walked alongside him to the hearing ... about the battery of a peace officer charge he's facing.