Digital records and forensic testimony outline timeline leading to the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
Text messages presented in court Friday during a preliminary hearing for singer D4vd reveal that 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez became pregnant and had an abortion more than a year before prosecutors allege the musician killed and dismembered her to protect his career.
The digital evidence and forensic details emerged during the fourth day of testimony in Los Angeles County Superior Court, where Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo will decide whether the 21-year-old artist, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, will stand trial. Burke faces charges of first-degree murder with special circumstances, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains. He has pleaded not guilty.
Los Angeles Police Department Detective Corey Farrell testified that Burke and Rivas Hernandez began communicating online in 2021, when she was 11, and Burke was 16. Text messages retrieved from Burke’s iCloud account indicated the alleged child sexual abuse began shortly after her 13th birthday.
In January 2024, text exchanges read aloud in court, Burke apologized to the teen for “putting her through this,” to which Rivas Hernandez replied that ending the pregnancy was “for the best” because neither was capable of raising a child. In subsequent messages months later, Rivas Hernandez expressed regret over the abortion, writing that she had “took an innocent life of a literal baby.”
Prosecutors contend that Burke killed Rivas Hernandez after she threatened to expose their multi-year relationship, which could have derailed a music career that generated more than $10 million between 2023 and 2025.
Authorities allege Burke arranged a ride-share to transport Rivas Hernandez from her home in Lake Elsinore, California, to his Hollywood Hills residence on April 23, 2025. Los Angeles County Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Grant Ho testified that Rivas Hernandez suffered two fatal sharp-force injuries, including a stab wound that penetrated her liver.
According to court filings, prosecutors allege Burke dismembered the victim’s body inside his garage, utilizing an inflatable pool to catch blood before placing her remains inside the front trunk of his Tesla Model X. A police forensic analyst testified that bloodstains recovered from Burke’s garage floor matched Rivas Hernandez’s DNA.
Her severely decomposed remains were discovered Sept. 8, 2025, inside the towed vehicle at the Hollywood Tow Yard after workers reported a foul odor on the day after what would have been her 15th birthday.
As detectives described explicit photographs recovered from Burke’s phone during Friday’s proceedings, the victim’s parents grew visibly emotional, with her mother leaving the courtroom in tears.
Preliminary hearing testimony is scheduled to conclude next week. If convicted on all charges, Burke faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
Originally published by Westside Today — view original
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