LITTLE ROCK — Jenni Rivera, the Latin music star killed in a weekend plane crash, has made her final journey home. Three brothers of Rivera, a Southern California native, accompanied her remains on a Thursday night flight from Mexico to the Long Beach airport. Escorted by police, her coffin was then driven to a Long Beach mortuary, where dozens of fans waited. Other fans gathered outside her mother’s home in nearby Lakewood, where well-wishershave left a memorial of balloons, candles and flowers. Rivera, 43, was perhaps the most successful female singer in grupero, a male-dominated Mexico regional style, and had branched out into acting and reality television. Known as the “Diva de la Banda” for the type of music that made her renown, she sold 15 million records and was loved by fans on both sides of the border for her down-to-earth style and songs about heartbreak and overcoming pain. She and six other people were killed Sunday evening when a plane she was traveling in nose-dived from 28,000 feet to the ground while flying from Monterrey in northern Mexico to the central city of Toluca. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Results of DNA tests were pending, but her family conceded Thursday that she was dead. “We have received 100 percent confirmation that my sister Jenni is gone to be with the Lord,” a brother, Pedro Rivera Jr., said during a news conference at the Lakewood home. “She is in the presence of God now. They did show pictures to my brothers of the body; it is not the full body.”

Actress Amanda Bynes has resolved a misdemeanor hit-and-run case after entering into a civil settlementwith other drivers. Court records show that Bynes entered a civil compromise to end the case and her attorney informed a Los Angeles court Thursday. Bynes was charged with leaving the scene of accidents in April and August without providing the proper information. Defendants in certain California misdemeanor cases are allowed to enter civil settlements to resolve criminal cases. City attorney’s spokesman Frank Mateljan said prosecutors objected to thedismissal, noting other instances in which Bynes has been cited for driving without a license and her pending driving-under--the-influence case. Bynes rose to fame starring in Nickelodeon’s All That and has also starred in several films, including 2010’s Easy A.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 12/15/2012