Prosecutors: D4vd stabbed Celeste Rivas Hernandez, bought chainsaws after teen died

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:00]Let's get you caught up to speed on our top stories today. Beginning with this.

[00:00:04]Two high-profile murder cases go before judges today. Nick Reiner accused of stabbing his parents to death and singer David accused of murdering Celeste Rivas Hernandez. A couple of really grim stories. Fox Local's Christina Gonzalez is live at the Criminal Courts building in downtown LA with the very latest on both cases this afternoon. Christina, a really busy day.

[00:00:28]Oh, Mara, this is I just literally ran out of the David courtroom and I'm going to warn everybody because what's happened today, we did not expect. They they're setting a preliminary hearing for May 26. And the what happened today, the big deal today was that there was actually an argument between the defense and prosecutors because the prosecutors filed what they believe is their case to be presented at the preliminary hearing.

[00:00:58]Now, at that point, the defense stood up and said, "We don't want the public to hear this." They tried to seal it because it is very very disturbing. I have been able to obtain this. The judge agreed that it does not have to be sealed. So we the media can get it and present it to the people who you listening. But I want to warn you before I read some of these elements. This is disturbing stuff and it's a good reason why they wanted it sealed. The defense.

[00:01:24]Let me show you some video. But please be aware. I'm going to try to be as tasteful as I can. But in essence, what the prosecution is saying is that David Burke met Celeste Rivas when she was 11 years old and he was 18. They started dating when he was when she was 13. He was 18 and they started a sexual relationship. Now, they believed her parents found out, took her cell phone away because she kept on running away from him. And we've heard about this before, but he actually bought her a cell phone at her junior high school and actually, you know, had it delivered to her. Now, they did have a sexual relationship for quite some time. She ran away. But here is, and I warn you, this is where it gets really crazy.

[00:02:06]According to the prosecution, the night before they believed she was killed, April 23rd, the night of the 22nd, there was a big fight and they went back and forth with text messages. She was upset because he was seeing other girls and she was threatening in those text messages to disclose information about him that would get him in trouble and quote, "uin his career." So he actually gets an Uber for her, according to prosecutors, and has her delivered to his home that day, April 23rd, to come to the house. He pays the Uber to drop her off. And according to them, that is when he kills her. Uh they say he stabbed her to death and he actually waited, according to this complaint, until she quote unquote bled out. Then he took her phone, traveled to Santa Barbara and kept on calling, texting her saying, "Where are you? Where are you?"

[00:02:59]As her body is sitting in her house, again, according to prosecutors, I want to underline that David has declared himself not guilty, okay, of all this already in court of any charges or whatever may happen. So, he goes to Santa Barbara and that's where, according to the complaint, investigators actually found her ID and some of her stuff. Then he returns home and get ready for this. He starts ordering on Amazon the tools that they say he used to dismember her body, including, and I kid you not, a burn cage and shovels and all kinds of things. Has the stuff delivered. And according to them, because they served a search warrant in his garage, this is where he supposedly did this. He proceeded to dismember her body.

[00:03:44]Specifically, Jaring is taking away her pinky finger because his name was tattooed on it. Again, these are allegations by the prosecution. He has pled not guilty, and this is the case they plan to present at the preliminary hearing on May 26. They say that they have a biological evidence, her DNA in the garage, in items left over from the pool, that kind of thing. Now, the defense wanted all this squash because they said this is prejuditial to him.

[00:04:15]Obviously, the prosecution in court was saying, "Of course, it's prejudicial.

[00:04:19]It's our case against them." The judge decided, "We do not seal this from the public."

[00:04:25]>> Uh the defense said, "Well, how are you not going to taint the jury pool?" And what the judge said is LA is big enough, the jury pool's big enough, and they have enough cases like this that by the time we get to a trial, which probably will be in a few years, the jury pool will be able to find people who are not biased by this. Now, it goes on. And I mean this I haven't I'm still reading through this paperwork and I'm going to have a lot more at 5:00. But you know supposedly he drove the Tesla and purposely he left her and the Tesla at the locations so that her body would decompose according to prosecutors thinking that it would be much more difficult for them to tie her to him.

[00:05:08]Um, it's it's it's a really >> gruesome really really disturbing. It it's, you know, I'm just giving you the highlights. It's it's disturbing. And he was in court. Obviously, this was not read in court today, but he looks scared. He looks very alert. He's working with his attorneys. He has three female attorneys, very good attorneys.

[00:05:28]The prosecution also has a female attorney. So, it's all women around this little guy. He's tiny. I, you know, I it amazes me how little he is. He's a very small framed man.

[00:05:39]>> Um he was very alert, but he looks scared.

[00:05:43]>> And if this is what the prosecution says they can prove in their preliminary hearing, this is this is scary for them.

[00:05:50]Um the the May 26, they they wanted, you know, the the the defense had initially said, "Hey, let's do it Friday." And the prosecution called them on it and said, "Okay, let's do it Friday, but Friday is Mayday." And they're expecting protest.

[00:06:03]The jur the judge was saying, "We're gonna have protest downtown. do you really want to do this? And then the defense when they said they had just filed this motion, he said, "Wait a minute. No, we need some time to go over some evidence and you know they're still getting stuff." So they decided on May 26. So that is when we will probably get more of this information and it it looks like a very difficult case and a disturbing case against this young man. But again, he has pled not guilty. He has good attorneys and they say they intend to prove that he didn't do this. So, we'll have to see what happens. In the Nick Riner case, they actually postponed their preliminary. They didn't even set a preliminary hearing. They decided that there's so much information that they still have to go through that they will meet again in September to decide when they can have a preliminary hearing. So, that's going to be a while on that. The coroner doesn't even have a full report to the prosecution on that. So, uh, this is my latest update on these.

[00:07:02]>> Well, that's a big update, Christina.

[00:07:03]Criminal courts.

[00:07:04]>> A really big update. So, you're covering the Nick Reiner case, which you just ended with. That has been pushed to September. So, we have several more months to go there. But all big information, gruesome details, and and let's be clear that there were leaks that involve these gruesome details leading up to today. TMZ has been on this case. We've been reporting on it and there have been those gruesome details where there was, you know, things like the burn cage you mentioned that was found. We didn't know if that was true. Of course, this is what the prosecution says. Uh this detail about Santa Barbara County. Interesting uh to hear that. That's something that TMZ broke uh you know during these months leading up to the actual arrest. Uh nonetheless, this is all coming to light. Not to mention, Christina, what I don't know if this was mentioned at all leading up to today, the idea that his song lyrics could be used as evidence against him because he has a song uh called I believe it's called Romantic Homicide on whether or not the prosecution is going to >> video, >> right? And if the prosecution is going to use that uh against him, >> you know, honestly, if they have DNA, if what they're saying here, if they have her DNA in the garage in items that were used to allegedly dismember her body, you know, the song >> is I mean, I don't want to say I mean, it's just >> But this is enough, >> but it adds to it, but it's not I mean, if you know and and they took their time with this case and it was a very difficult you know that that when I was in the the the corner just delivered to the court while we were there a package of paperwork about this big and the judge is like okay who wants to make copies for who will the prosecution go first it's just overwhelming the amount of evidence in this case and you know the prosecution has taken its time because when you have a body that is that decomposed it is very difficult but they have a bunch of text messages from these two talking to each other and the fights and the and the pictures. And I want to say because we had reported the last time that there were pornographic pictures on his phone. They're not general pornographic pictures. They're pictures of her, you know, in all kinds of compromising precision. So, you know, that is one of the things that I was reading here.

[00:09:26]>> Let's clear that let's clear that up because that was reported. I guess it was late last week. Um, I'm losing track of the timeline in which his phone uh or his devices anyway had a whole lot of child porn on it. So, this wasn't just anybody. This was specifically child her.

[00:09:47]>> Yeah. Yeah. It's you know I I it's uh you know the the pictures of her in in compromising situations. My goodness.

[00:09:54]you know, which, you know, this is going to be a nightmare of a trial because, you know, I've sat in trials. Imagine the family sitting there looking at the stuff.

[00:10:03]>> No. Yes.

[00:10:04]>> You know, let alone the pictures that they have of of of all the other stuff.

[00:10:09]>> It's going to be a very gruesome trial.

[00:10:11]>> Oh. Oh. And you know, when we were up in Lake Elsenor, the family is devastated, >> you know, and and and and granted this young woman has been seen with this young man. They were dating for a year.

[00:10:23]She ran away. They said they knew he was with her or she was with him. He initially said he wasn't. Then he said he was and you know and it went back and forth. But you know that what is particularly disturbing and damaging for him is that there's planning involved here if this is true because her body is in the house supposedly and he's using her phone to text, you know, he's trying to text her to her phone. Where are you?

[00:10:50]Where are you? when they seem to have evidence that the Uber dropped her off at the house, >> right? So, he's trying to cover his tracks, >> which goes to a degree of culpability.

[00:11:01]It makes it even worse. One thing is killing somebody in the heat of passion because they threaten you and you thought your life was over. Another thing is the degree of planning that seems to have gone into this >> after the fact. Uh, yes.

[00:11:15]before and after to get her to his house and then everything else that transpired according to the prosecution >> and now uh >> right and again he has said he's not guilty >> right >> you know he has pled not guilty on all of this so I want to underline that because the man does have the right to a defense I don't know what the defense is going to present you know the defense says they have a solid case to say it wasn't him >> yeah well as we've leading up to all of this uh we've said if it were such an open and shut case. Why did it take so long for this arrest? Uh, you know, perhaps the >> because of the because because of the the composition of the body, it took a long time for them to be able to figure out quite a few things. It is not easy to backtrack what happened to a body when it is that badly decomposed, >> right? They said they couldn't even >> That was a big deal for them. Yeah, >> that's a big that was a big deal for them and they needed to make sure. It's a big case. you know, they don't want to be wrong on this.

[00:12:15]>> Okay?

[00:12:15]>> They don't want to be wrong on anything, but something like this, you know, but any that's the latest. We'll have some more at five o'clock. I'm going to sort through some more of this and and my apologies if I've offended anybody with this retelling of these details. I you know, we try to be as tactful as we can.

[00:12:29]Yeah.

[00:12:29]>> But there's no tactful way to describe this.

[00:12:32]>> No, I you did you did a great job, Christina. I mean, it's a lot to decipher and to go through. Uh so, we thank you for hopping on the stream. We know that you're up against a deadline uh for the 5:00 news.