Beverly Hills Murder Victim Had Ties To Palm Springs Film Festival

A gunshot victim found today in her crashed Mercedes-Benz in Beverly Hills was a well-known Hollywood publicist who had ties to the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Ronni Chasen, 64, was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, a coroner’s spokesman said. She had suffered five gunshot wounds.

Chasen was found about 12:30 a.m. in her late-model E-350 sedan, which crashed into a pole on Whittier Drive just south of Sunset Boulevard. She had attended the Hollywood premiere of the film “Burlesque” and an after-party and was on her way home to Westwood when she came under fire.

She had earned praise for her behind-the-scenes work leading up to the Palm Springs film festival awards gala held earlier this year.

In past years, she was credited with helping the festival snag Randy Newman, John Williams and Andy Garcia for its galas, the website reported.

Chasen mostly was a unit publicist, working on films such as “Driving Miss Daisy,” “On Golden Pond” and “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.”

Chasen was formerly the senior vice president of worldwide publicity at MGM.