D4vd is ‘Bored’ as Gruesome Body Parts Are Shown in Court

[00:00:00]From Fortnite to Coachella to handcuffs, he's the rising music star accused of a horrific crime, murdering and dismembering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a girl he was allegedly in an intimate relationship with. But inside the courtroom today, all eyes were on David Burke's demeanor. We're told the singer appeared bored during a hearing where prosecutors began laying out their case. Gruesome images were shown to the courtroom as prosecutors revealed some of the most disturbing evidence yet detailing what they allege happened to Celeste and how they say they uncovered the shocking crime. Burke, better known by his stage named David, is accused of stabbing Celeste Rivas Hernandez, dismembering her body, and concealing her remains inside a Tesla. He has not been convicted, and the allegations against him remain accusations. There are no cameras or audio recordings allowed inside this multi-day hearing.

[00:00:56]But we have a reporter inside the courtroom who witnessed the biggest moments firsthand. She's joining us to break down the explosive testimony, the evidence revealed, and what we learned about the possible direction of David's defense. We're on the case presented by Law and Crime. I'm Chris Stewart.

[00:01:19]If convicted, David could potentially face the death penalty in this case. But inside the courtroom today, we're told that his demeanor was not what you would expect. Uninterested, it appeared at times, perhaps even bored as prosecutors laid out gruesome evidence in his murder case. Today was the first day of an explosive preliminary hearing that could go through the rest of the week. The point is for prosecutors to show the court they have enough evidence for this case to go to trial. I want you to take a look at some courtroom sketches that we have in of David. This is per Bill Robels of the Associated Press. Now, David has been in custody since his high-profile arrest in April in connection to the April 2025 murder and dismemberment of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. And today, prosecutors presented images on the screen that are frankly hard to comprehend. Evidence photos shown in the courtroom of Celeste remains when parts of her body was found in the front trunk of a Tesla.

[00:02:15]prosecutors argue belongs to David. And Celeste's family was even in the courtroom to see those horrific images for themselves. David's attorney, though, is not backing down and gave some insight into what the singer's defense may look like if this case heads to trial. I want to get to NBCLA reporter Julia Deng, who was in the courtroom for us this week. Here's what she says happened as day one wrapped up.

[00:02:40]>> Chris, what a day in court today. this murder case against 21-year-old David Anthony Burke, uh the Tik Tok singer known as D4BD. David, this has finally gone to a preliminary hearing, and that's after we covered three separate status conferences wondering if this case would eventually move forward.

[00:03:05]Well, today it finally has. And I I got to start with the most graphic portion of the testimony today. We did hear from three witnesses called by the prosecution. Uh two of them were investigators and one of them from the LAPD had the task of describing what he found uh when he was called to the Hollywood Towyard last September. That was of course the day the victim, 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, was found in the front trunk of the defendant's Tesla. So, we've seen the descriptions of what happened to her. We've seen the autopsy reports. Um, we've reported on this additional felony charge against David, uh, stating that he dismembered her corpse after he allegedly stabbed her to death. But Chris, today, for the first time, we actually in the courtroom saw photos of that portion of the investigation. We actually saw the victim's remains in cadaabver bags still in the front trunk of that Tesla. It It was something I don't think I had the words to describe. Reporters sitting in the courtroom actually stopped typing for a moment. Um there there was a second where it felt like everybody just froze and and there was this too. For the first time today, we actually saw the parents of the victim, uh, the mother and father of Celeste. They were both sitting in the courtroom. They were sitting directly in front of me. They were about three rows ahead of me, and I could see the victim's mother, Mercedes, uh, just bowing her head down and crying when those evidentiary photos were shown to the courtroom. Uh, but I do want to lay out what else happened. So, I do want to start with the very first thing that transpired this morning. Uh, before the judge even began preliminary hearing proceedings, she wanted to address a defense motion that was filed back on July 10th. Now, there's been a lot of coverage about this. We talked about it this morning, how David's team filed this request for him to appear in court unshackled. Now, their argument is if jurors see him, you know, handcuffed, there is an appearance of guilt. There is an appearance that he may be a dangerous individual. um and that could threaten, they claim the impartiality of the the jury members who are tasked with deciding his fate. Um so they went back and forth over that today. The judge decided on this. She says the defendant, David, can actually be unshackled in court, but she did allow his handcuffs to be removed. and she says that is going to help facilitate the passing of notes um which is permissible between David and his defense attorneys. So they implemented that this morning. They uncuffed his hands um but his waist and his feet still remain shackled. So they got that out of the way and then very promptly they started these preliminary hearing proceedings. So, they called three witnesses to the stand today. There was an LA County Sheriff's Department deputy, a senior deputy, uh, and this is way back. This was back when Celeste was still alive and she was reported missing in her hometown in Lake Elsenor. Uh, this is a different county. This is in Riverside County. And apparently that sheriff's office contacted LA County to go and investigate. So, we heard from the senior deputy who actually went to the defendant's house up in the Hollywood Hills looking for this missing girl. Uh, Celeste would have been 13 at the time. Um, we saw body camera footage of this senior deputy and his partner being let into that house by David having a conversation with him and then being shown photos on David's phone of Celeste. David said yeah, he knew her.

[00:07:46]He met her online at the end of 2021. Um and he claimed to deputies that he hadn't seen her in months, but he pulled up her yearbook photo and said she told him she was 18 and not 13. So that was the first witness we heard from today.

[00:08:06]After that, um prosecutors called up an LAPD detective from their robbery and homicide division. This detective was the one who was sent to the Hollywood Towyard after Damon's Tesla was towed there. Um, and because of a a foul stench of decomposition, police were called. Um, and they found what ended up being Celeste's remains. We ended the day by hearing from a third witness.

[00:08:35]This was a business associate of Davids.

[00:08:39]He did uh primarily accounting work, financial work for a record label that worked with David when he first came to LA from Texas. And a lot of the questioning there, a lot of the cross-examination from broke uh prosecutors and defense attorneys had to do with management of David's finances.

[00:09:01]Who is paying the bills? Who is reviewing expenses? and just how much money was involved in this operation around this budding artist with what's been described as a multi-million dollar music career ahead of him. Well, let me give you the numbers this witness laid out. He says between 2023 and the end of 2025, David rad in gross earnings of 10 to 11.5 million.

[00:09:36]And he says that record label head made anywhere from three and a half to$4 million off of just David. Now why is this relevant? This goes back to that firstdegree murder charge and the special circumstances around that charge. There are three of them. Those special circumstances mean this is eligible for the death penalty here in California, even though California technically halted executions back in 2019. So, one of those three special circumstances include murder for financial gain.

[00:10:16]Prosecutors alleged David killed this 14-year-old because she threatened to expose their illegal relationship and that would have threatened his career.

[00:10:29]So, we're expecting this crossexamination to continue on tomorrow morning. Court proceedings are scheduled to start again at 9:30. Same rules, same deal. No cameras allowed in that courtroom, but I will be in there. Now, we did take a couple of court breaks um ordered by the judge. This is standard.

[00:10:50]We took a 15inute break in the morning.

[00:10:53]Uh we broke for about an hour and a half for lunch. There was another 15-minute break in the afternoon. And during one of those breaks, I happened to run into Mercedes, the mother of Celeste, um upstairs in the lady's room just outside the courthouse. Now, she's uh she's not going to be testifying during this hearing. She is not going to be speaking directly with the press on recorder. Um but standing there next to her having having that moment, I I cannot begin to imagine what she's going through. Um she and the victim's father. So, I did have an opportunity to actually speak with their attorney. Now, this is not a criminal attorney involved in this case.

[00:11:47]Uh, this is a civil attorney, a wrongful death attorney their family retained um for potential future proceedings against David Anthony Burke. So, he actually spoke with us on camera. And I want to play for you what this attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, has to say to David's mother, Colleen Burke, who was operating as his manager in many respects.

[00:12:15]>> I understand her desire to protect her son. Um, but at some point you have to stop babying the the the adult man and he needs to take uh accountability for his actions.

[00:12:36]And it seems to me right now all the family's doing is looking out for their best interests as well as the interests of David so they can continue making millions and millions of dollars like they have in the last few years. So you guys, I'll be around tomorrow. So thank you for your time. And right before our cameras started rolling on that one-on-one interview with wrongful death attorney Patrick Steinfeld, who's representing the victim's family and likely going to file something against David in the future. I had the opportunity to ask him what justice means for their family. He says Celeste's parents haven't talked to him about how they feel about the death penalty in this case. The DA, the LA County District Attorney Nathan Hawkman did address the press this morning. He says they have not decided yet whether they are going to seek the death penalty. He did promise to come and speak with reporters again after the preliminary hearing wraps up and at that point he says he will be taking questions from us. For now he only said this is going to last about 3 to 5 days.

[00:13:51]Today was day one. We wrapped at about 400 p.m. LA time. We're starting up again tomorrow at 9:30. We will be in there. We're expecting another full day of court. more photos, more evidence, more witnesses, and a lot more new information that we previously did not have in this case. Again, against 21-year-old David Anthony Burke. Back over to you, Chris.

[00:14:16]>> So, obviously, a lot to follow in this case. This is a story that goes back years, and there are so many layers to it. My colleague Jesse Weber, host of Sidebar, has followed every development and has put together a timeline. in the case of David and how we got to this point.

[00:14:33]>> We have been covering all aspects of the David case since the story broke last year, but this is a story actually that goes back years before then. So, what we want to do, what we want to do is clarify, simplify. This is a full timeline of all developments, all major developments, the investigation, the key dates that prosecutors claim these alleged crimes were committed. So, this is going to be everything you need to know. This is a comprehensive look based on reporting and prosecutors allegations. And when I say alleged crimes, by the way, I mean that David is currently charged with firstdegree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains, all in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. So, with that in mind, here we go. Full timeline of this entire story. Now, I said this goes back years before, right? January 2022 to be exact.

[00:15:28]According to the prosecution in their pre-trial brief, this is when David and then 11year-old Celeste first met. The details of that meeting not entirely clear. I'm sure that's going to be explored at a trial. Then you fast forward to November 2023 because that is when prosecutors claim David and Celeste began a sexual relationship when she was just 13 years old and he was 18 years old. And how do they know that? What is there apparent evidence to prove that allegation? You go back to the pre-trial brief. It says from the evidence list, quote, "The description of photographs depicting the victim naked as well as while she was engaged with defendant in sexual activity when she was 13. As this evidence constitutes child sexual abuse material, CSAM, the photographs themselves will not be presented. While all possible charges that could be proven were not filed, the CSAM is proof of their ongoing sexual relationship while the victim was 13 and 14 years old." By the way, we did a whole sidebar on what could be the potential defenses for that apparent evidence and if he takes the stand, what he would say about it or maybe say about it. Also, we did a sidebar on what potential federal charges could be in the works if you take those allegations. So, it's all up on Long Crimes YouTube channel if you want to check it out. Oh, and by the way, when I mentioned this pre-trial brief, it's up on uh the case file section of uh the Long Crime Plus app, too, if you want to check out the whole brief. I'm going to talk about it a lot more. But going back to the brief, it also says numerous text messages between defendant and the victim evidencing their sexual relationship, pregnancy, abortion, and use of plan B emergency contraception. Messages through March 2025 prove defendant continued to manipulate the victim as she messaged, "All we do is have sex and just hang out. Man, I want more than that for myself." And these messages, they say, were obtained from defendants's iCloud data. January 2024, according to CNN, Celeste and David appeared together in a Twitch stream. February 2024, that's a key month. You go back to the pre-trial brief, it says, quote, "Detectives learned the victim had been reported missing to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department by her family who live in Lake Elzor in February and April 2024. RCSD telephonically contacted defendant on February 17th, 2024 after they identified a phone number in the victim's phone records that belonged to him. During the call, defendant claimed he had spoken to the victim last on February 13th or 14th, 2024, but stated he was unaware she was a minor or that she had been reported missing. RCSD advised him that Los Angeles Sheriff's Department deputies would be coming to his home on that day. Defendant was living at 804 North Deini Place in West Hollywood. RCSD requested that LSD conduct a welfare check at defendant's home. LD deputies went to defendant's home that night at 8:15 p.m. and informed him the victim was a 13-year-old runaway. Defendant again claimed he was unaware she was a minor and he'd only met the victim once in person in November 2023. However, defendant showed deputies a yearbook photo of the victim he had on his cell phone. Although he claimed to be unaware of where the victim was at the time, she returned home 2 days later. Despite being informed by law enforcement the victim was only 13, defendant continued to pursue her. After the victim returned home in February 2024, her parents took her cell phone away. Defendant drove to Lake Elzanor and paid a junior high school student in the victim's class $1,000 to give the victim a cell phone defendant purchased so they could stay in contact. Throughout 2024, the victim spent a significant amount of time with defendant, including summer weekends at his home in the Hollywood Hills and traveling with him to Las Vegas, London, and Texas to meet his family. So, we don't know the exact dates in 2024 that the prosecution alleges this travel or meetings happened, but I'm sure that's going to be explored in a preliminary hearing or a trial. March 19th, 2024.

[00:19:08]So, we talk about the runaway aspect or the apparent runaway aspect of Celeste's life. TMZ reported there is surveillance footage from a liquor store down the street from her home in Lake Eleanor.

[00:19:19]And this footage apparently captures a person in a black hoodie, white pants, who has reportedly been identified as Celeste walking and running down the street. April 2024. So, just to be clear, April 2024 is when her family reports her missing. And she had been reported missing in 2024 three times.

[00:19:39]April 5th was apparently the final time that she was reported missing. May 2024, according to ABC7, she reportedly called home. June 2024, according to CNN, she was photographed backstage at one of David's LA shows. September 7th, 2024, Celeste turns 14 years old. September 8th, 2024. TMZ reportedly has video of Celeste engaged in some sort of altercation with people in her Lake Elenor neighborhood. And by the way, this is going to be a year to the day before her body is found. November 2024.

[00:20:19]According to the prosecution's pre-trial brief, David and Celeste apparently broke up but continue to stay in touch.

[00:20:25]and they claim the text messages suggest they continued to have sexual relations.

[00:20:32]January 2nd, 2025. According to Steve Fischer, the private investigator who has been looking into this case from the very beginning when he was on a prior episode of ours on Sidebar, he said the last photos in their possession that they have of Celeste was January 2nd, 2025. April 22nd, 2025. This is the night before prosecutors claim, authorities claim David allegedly killed Celeste. So, April 22nd, 2025, the prosecution's brief says that the defendant and the victim engaged in a lengthy argument described in detail in their text messages. The messages revealed the victim's jealousy over defendants's relationships with other women as defendant led her to believe they had a future together. She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with Defendant to end his career and destroy his life. Defendant's first studio album was due to be released on April 25th, 2025. He had an emerging multi-million dollar career already in progress. He also had multiple product endorsements which were highly profitable. April 23rd, 2025.

[00:21:33]This is the day that prosecutors believe Celeste was killed and all of her cellular activity ceased. That is according to prosecution. And going to their brief, it says, quote, "At approximately 8:40 p.m. on April 23rd, 2025, defendant sent an Uber to transport the victim from her Lake Elenor home to his residence. Uber records showing defendants's transaction where he ordered an Uber to pick up the victim from her Lake Eleanor home and transport her to his residence the night of April 23rd, 2025. They communicated before and during her Uber ride, which dropped her off at defendants's Hollywood Hills home around 10:10 p.m.

[00:22:07]At approximately 10:30 p.m., defendants sent text messages to the victim inquiring where she was. The people contend this was part of defendants's premeditated plan to cover up the murder as she was already dead by this time.

[00:22:19]Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened. Very soon after the arrival at his home, defendants stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out. At no time did he call law enforcement or 911 or take her to an emergency room to attempt to save her life. And we talked about this on previous sidebars about how they may be able to prove that, whether there's a witness or surveillance footage or maybe just the fact that there was no or apparently no outgoing call to emergency services. Back to the timeline. Despite knowing she was dead and her family was trying to find her, the evidence will show defendant lied and claimed he didn't know where she was. In fact, defendant drove to Santa Barbara County immediately after the victim died, attempting to dispose of her property and destroy evidence at approximately 11:30 p.m. on April 23rd, 2025. He drove away from his home as he texted and called the victim's phone asking where she was. Again, these were acts calculated and planned to set up his defense within a very short timeline after the victim's vicious murder.

[00:23:19]Defendant drove his Tesla north on the 101 freeway to San Marcos Pass Road, SR-154 near Lake Kachuma in Santa Barbara County. He returned home early the following morning on April 24th, 2025 before going to a radio interview for the release of his album that week.

[00:23:34]He sent two additional texts to the victim's phone that day, which obviously went unanswered because she was already dead. on April 24th, 2025. Prosecution says they claim defendant ordered a shovel from Home Depot that was delivered to his home from Postmates.

[00:23:51]Also on April 24th, this is according to PI Steve Fischer. He claims the David management team held a withered album release party in LA at 8:00 p.m. and he believes that David possibly took a redeye flight to New York. After April 25th, David releases his debut studio album, Withered. Again, goes back to that alleged financial motive. Think about the timing of when he allegedly killed Celeste. His album's about to be released. April 26th, 2025. The defendant never attempted to contact Celeste again. So, the argument is that he killed her, right? That's the allegation. And the other argument is, I'm sure this is going to be made, is the prosecution will say, "Look, if he didn't do anything to her, isn't it odd that he never contacted her again?"

[00:24:35]Assuming these allegations are true, go back to the pre-trial brief. Prosecutors claim May 1st, 2025, defendant ordered and subsequently Amazon delivered two chainsaws to his home. May 5th, 2025, defendant ordered and Amazon subsequently delivered a body bag, heavy duty laundry bags, and a blue inflatable pool to his home. He made these purchases under the fake name Victoria Mendes. May 8th, 2025, defendant returned to the same area in Santa Barbara County, leaving his home around 11:30 p.m. He returned to the area again on May 31st, 2025. This is an isolated site off SR 154 where the victim's identification was subsequently discovered in January 2026. We'll get to that. July 4th, 2025. According to TMZ, a live stream apparently shows David allegedly telling his purported friends Neo Langston and Sucana about the smell in his house, saying that he apologized for how his bathroom smells and claimed that he went to the bathroom two hours earlier. Now, if that's true, if that's going to be presented as evidence, possibly significant because the prosecution they're filing the pre-trial brief claims that he lied to friends, business associates, and others who noticed quote a strong smell of decay in and around his home and vehicle. July 7th, 2025. Again, this is according to the prosecution in the brief. Defendant ordered and subsequently Amazon delivered a burn cage to his home under the same fake name as part of his plan to incinerate evidence. July 29th, prosecutors claim surveillance video and other evidence confirms David was the last person to drive the Tesla, again where we'll get into this, where Celeste body was apparently found before he left LA on a concert tour. Now, not entirely clear whether someone else could have moved it before the Tesla was found, but either way, it was reportedly found on 1405 Bluebird Avenue, which was parked approximately 400 ft from defendant's home at 1368 Dhini Place in the Hollywood Hills. August 5th, 2025, David's Wii tour starts in Delmare, California, and he was supposed to have performances in the United States and Europe and finish on November 4th, 2025.

[00:26:45]key financial motive timing goes to that right now. Before he left for the tour, the prosecution alleges at some point he did the following. Quote, "Defendant took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim's body. After placing her body into the blue inflatable pool to prevent her blood from spilling onto his garage floor, defendant used a chainsaw and perhaps other tools to cut off her limbs. Small blue plastic fragments were found embedded in the victim's remains, which were collected by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Department. The fragments were analyzed by the LAPD's forensic science division trace analysis unit. An expert was able to make a physical fit match from the blue fragments to the blue inflatable pool purchased by defendant in May 2025. In order to distance himself from the victim, he amputated her left ring and pinky fingers because her ring finger contained a tattoo of his name. Her fingers have not been recovered.

[00:27:33]Defendant then placed her head and torso into the cadaavver bag he purchased. He placed her limbs into a garbage bag, which he deposited into his front trunk, laying the cadaavver bag on top. For several weeks or possibly months, defendant left the victim's body to decompose inside his Tesla. August 27th, according to Fox 5, the position of the tires on the Tesla was marked by authority, so it's parked there, and it's now being noticed. September 3rd, according to Fox 5, a parking citation is issued for the Tesla. September 5th, the Tesla is towed and impounded in a Hollywood toll lot. September 8th, the day after what would have been Celeste's 15th birthday, her decomposed, dismembered body is reportedly found in the front trunk of the Tesla.

[00:28:18]Prosecution alleges that the manager of the towy yard where the Tesla had been impounded, noted the strong smell of decay and the presence of flies coming from the vehicle. He notified the Los Angeles Police Department, Hollywood Auto Detectives through Departmental Resources, determined that the Tesla was registered to the defendant. At the towyard, LAPD detectives opened the Tesla's front storage compartment and observed a black cadaavver bag covered in insects. Inside the bag, they discovered a severely decomposed head and torso. A plastic garbage bag beneath the black cadaavver bag contained the dismembered arms and legs. However, the victim's ring and pinky fingers on her left hand had been amputated and were not found in the Tesla. September 9th, David, as part of his tour, reportedly performs at the Filmore out in Minneapolis. September 16th, the Los Angeles Medical Examiner positively identifies the body as that of Celeste through dental records, and investigators say that Celeste has an index finger tattoo reading sh similar to a tattoo that David reportedly has.

[00:29:21]September 17th, detectives from the LAPD robbery homicide division serve a search warrant on this reportedly $20,000 a month rental property which David was renting near where the Tesla was found, 1368 Deini Place, and bags of evidence reportedly seized. And according to the prosecution in the brief, quote, "Inside the garage, detectives discovered evidence consistent with the dismemberment of the victim's body in the inflatable pool, which contained multiple linear cuts. Several biological samples which tested positive for blood were collected within the garage area.

[00:29:54]DNA analysis determined that various samples match the victim's unique genetic profile. September 19th, 2025, David officially cancels the rest of his tour. September 23rd, 2025, David transfers ownership of his Texas home to his mom. Now, there is kind of mixed reporting on it because we have seen reporting that he made changes on September 18th and September 22nd and he transferred two Texas homes. Either way, why is this important? Why is it suspicious? Well, the argument would be he did this, right? Because he thought he was going to get arrested. I wonder if that's going to be an argument. I wonder if that's going to come up. But that's something to keep in mind. Could it have been for financial reasons?

[00:30:32]Sure. But I do wonder if it's going to be something that comes up at trial.

[00:30:36]September 25th, 2025, Celeste's body was reportedly released to her family.

[00:30:41]September 29th, 2025, it is revealed that Celeste's death certificate lists her cause of death as deferred and her manner of death is pending. We're going to get into more of this in a minute, but also on that day, we got a statement from the LAPD that read, quote, "The Los Angeles Police Department's robbery homicide division has been diligently investigating the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez over the past several weeks.

[00:31:03]At this time, we can confirm that Celeste Rivas Hernandez is deceased and her body was found in the front trunk area of a Tesla belonging to David Burke. The vehicle had been parked at the location from which it was towed for several weeks. So, Miss Rivas Hernandez may have been deceased for several weeks before the discovery of her body. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause or manner of Miss Rivas Hernandez's death. As such, it remains unclear whether there is any criminal culpability beyond the concealment of her body. RHD is thoroughly examining every aspect of this case to uncover the truth and seek justice for Celeste Rivas Hernandez and her family. We appreciate the public's patience and understanding as we continue this investigation. Further updates will be provided as appropriate, but at this time we are unable to answer additional questions. Now, obviously that caused quite a bit of stir and confusion about how the investigation was going and how no one could be charged with her death. But then you go to October 2025 and we learned through reporting from the New York Post that David has hired celebrity criminal defense attorney Blair Burke. Did a whole sidebar episode on her and potential defenses too, but at the time he hadn't been criminally charged, but reportedly hired her. November 2025, it is reported that David is no longer cooperating in the investigation.

[00:32:14]November 21st, 2025. This is when a court orders that the LAPD medical examiner report and information on Celeste's death be sealed, that a security hold is placed to prevent any information from coming out to the media, and that this was petitioned by the LAPD. Now, the chief medical examiner had released a statement that said at 10:54 a.m. on Friday, November 21st, the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner Department received a court order initiated by the Los Angeles Police Department to place a security hold on medical examiner case number 202514252, Celeste Rivas Hernandez. No records or details associated with the case, including the cause and manner of death and medical examiner report, can be released or posted on the website until further notice. In fact, the chief medical examiner, Dr. OD Akpo said as quoted in the press release, "The department's mission is to have full transparency with the community by providing information about our cases to empower people to make changes that save lives. Since becoming the department head, I've worked on eradicating the practice of placing security holds on medical examiner cases simply by law enforcement request. The practice of security holds is virtually unheard of in other counties and has not been proven to improve outcomes in the legal system. We are dedicated to serving our community with full transparency.

[00:33:28]However, the law precludes us from doing so while the court order remains in this case. So, arguably a little bit of tension there between the ME's office and and LAPD. Maybe, maybe not. And I did a sidebar episode when I talked about potential defenses and whether this is something that's going to be explored by the defense. By the way, LAPD robbery homicide put out a statement that said at that time, quote, "The LAPD sought to seal the records of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's investigation into Celeste Rivas' death. That order was sought only to ensure detectives from the robbery homicide division learned of important information surrounding her death before the media and the public. The order was not sought to undermine transparency.

[00:34:05]December 9th, 2025. While it wouldn't be publicly released until after David's arrest, we have learned that the medical examination on Celeste was completed on December 9th, 2025. You read verbatim from the summary portion and it says, quote, autopsy examination was limited by extensive post-mortem changes. There are two penetrating wounds of the torso with smooth edges that may represent sharp force injuries. The wound on the upper abdomen penetrates the liver and the wound on the left chest penetrates one of the left intercostal spaces with disruption of the adjacent ribs cortical surfaces. The left lung appears intact.

[00:34:45]The bilateral upper and lower extremities show full thickness dismemberment. Multiple other skin and soft tissue defects are present without apparent associated internal injuries.

[00:34:53]The ideology of these defects is not clearly apparent due to severe post-mortem changes. Post-mortem toxicology performed on liver tissue shows the presence of a low level of ethanol which may be due to postmortm changes or ingestion and does not appear to be contributo to the cause of death.

[00:35:09]Given the history and circumstances as currently known by me in the setting of the findings by examination, ancillary studies and in the absence of other definitive causes of death, the cause of death is multiple penetrating injuries.

[00:35:20]The manner of death is classified as homicide. And the report also shows there was presumptive positives for bzzoazipines and methamphetamine, MDMMA in Celeste system. So now we get a sense of when authorities knew what. By the way, we start hearing rumblings at this time about a grand jury hearing evidence in Celeste's case. We don't have a ton of details. We would later learn there were reportedly three grand juries hearing evidence. And in December of 2025, we learned reportedly that David's manager, Robert Morgan Roth, allegedly testified and reportedly said in a hallway during a break in the courthouse that the LA County deputy DA, Beth Silverman, was quote very pushy on why it didn't call police. This is per TMZ.

[00:35:57]And that he allegedly said that quote, "I feel like I didn't have the responsibility to do that and just wanted to continue with the tour."

[00:36:04]January 2026, David's family is reportedly subpoenaed to testify purportedly in front of a grand jury regarding Celeste's death. January 17, 2026, Celeste passport card, as I mentioned before, was found by a CALR worker off SR 154 in Santa Barbara County. Remember, that's where authorities claim David traveled to to possibly dispose of evidence. January 22nd, 2026, David's purported friend, Neil Langston, was arrested in Montana, allegedly at his mom's house on reportedly a failure to appear as a witness on that charge. It was reported that the local PD had assisted the LAPD on this. February 4th, 2026, TMZ reports that Langston appears in a Los Angeles courtroom reportedly to testify before the grand jury, but only for 30 to 40 minutes. Raises a lot of questions. If this is true, what did he testify to? It was so important. Short time to testify, right? immunity deal. Did he plead the fifth against self-inccrimination? I'm sure that'll be explored later on.

[00:37:01]February 2026, David's father, mother, and brother challenged subpoenas to travel to LA and testify, but a Texas court denied their petition. Notable was this comment from a court hearing where Bennett Dodson, assistant DA for Waller County out in Texas, told the court, "Don't think it's a secret to anyone at this point that Mr. David Burke is a musician who's quite famous and this matter concerns a car that was registered to him at this at these witnesses address here in Houston that had a dismembered decomposing body in it. I would say if a car with a dismembered decomposing body is registered to your home address, that is something you should expect to be questioned by the authorities about and that's what this is. Judge, we learn from these court filings that there is in fact a murder investigation into Celeste's death and that David is the target. March 13, 2026, Neil Langston posts private Instagram stories that reportedly read, quote, "Thankfully, I'm legally fine in every way. And boy, do I got all my receipts for things."

[00:37:55]Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

[00:37:57]And then he reportedly posted, "I think the worst part is that I've told so many people that I trust and I thought knew me as a person my side of things, all for that to be thrown out the window as soon as I get arrested." And they slap that bleep's name next to mine. And for the record, the thing I was arrested for wasn't even charged. They never filed it and my warrant was retracted because there is more to the story than what's on the news. April 16th, 2026, David was arrested. Armed personnel took him from a Hollywood Hills home just over a mile from the towyard, which was significant because we hadn't had any clue where David was during all this time. He had reportedly been radio silent since he canceled his tour. Reportedly had made no public appearances, but he was arrested. Not formally charged, by the way. That was interesting. He was arrested, not formally charged. And we would learn that a grand jury never officially indicted him. And instead, this case would move forward through a preliminary hearing process in which a court, a judge would determine whether there's sufficient probable cause to support the charges and have this case move forward towards trial. We're going to get more on that in a second. April 20th, 2026, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hawkman announces the formal charges against David. Today I am announcing the charges against David Anthony Burke, the musician known as David, spelled D4 VD, in connection with the brutal and horrific murder of Celeste, a 14-year-old at that time.

[00:39:23]These charges include the most serious charges that a DA's office can bring.

[00:39:28]That is firstdegree murder with special circumstances. the special circumstances being lying in weight, committing this crime for financial gain or murdering a witness in an investigation.

[00:39:42]Uh these special circumstances uh carry with it along with the firstdegree murder charge a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. The determination on whether or not the district attorney's office will seek the death penalty will be made at a later time.

[00:40:04]Before I get into the actual charges and their additional charges against Mr. Burke, including continuous sexual acts, lewd and lascivious sexual acts with with an individual under 14 years old and mutilating a human remains of a body. Before I get into the description of these charges and their seriousness, I want to look at this as a parent. I am a parent of three children and a parent's nightmare is a situation where your daughter goes out one night and never comes back. As we will show in a court of law and what I also want to make sure about that the understanding of these charges is clear is my description of these charges is not evidence that we are going to present in court. These charges in fact will not be evidence in the in the court. evidence will be the witness testimony, the documents and different types of admissible testimony that we will uh admit into court in the prosecution and if it leads to the eventual trial of Mr. Burke to convince a jury of 12 people beyond a reasonable doubt that each and every one of these charges is true as well as the special allegations and circumstances that have been alleged.

[00:41:28]>> Yes. So, the prosecution alleges that David murdered Celeste to keep her quiet ostensibly about their alleged illegal sexual relationship. And David also appeared in court alongside his attorney Blair Burke and prosecutor Beth Silverman.

[00:41:42]>> We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez, nor was he the cause of her death. and we would like to be able to have the evidence come into the light of day at the earliest opportunity in order to establish that. Your honor, as I indicated, council, there's approximately 40 terabytes of discovery in this case. Moreover, in order to obtain the transcripts from a grand jury investigation, council has to file a motion. She knows the way the system works. I'm not able to gather those. uh they have to be provided after the court orders the release because it was an investigation.

[00:42:26]Second of all, uh if council plans on going to a preliminary hearing within the 10 days, uh it is unlikely that there will be very much discovery provided within that period given the voluminous nature and how long it's going to take to copy onto drugs. In addition to that, the coroner's report was sealed in this case uh in order to prevent it from hampering uh truthful testimony from witnesses that testified at the grand jury. So, an order will also have to be obtained in order to get the coroner's department, which is now the medical examiner's department, to release those materials.

[00:43:05]>> April 21st, 2026, Celeste family breaks their silence. They release a statement that says, "We would like to thank the Los Angeles Police Department and the District Attorney's Office for their hard work. We would also like to thank the people of Lake Ellenor for all their support. Celeste was a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance. Every Friday night was movie night and we spent wonderful times together. We love her very much and she always told us that she loved us. We miss her deeply.

[00:43:31]All we want is justice for Celeste."

[00:43:33]April 22nd, 2026. Again, the ME report that I mentioned before that is released along with a statement from the chief medical examiner that says after several months, I'm grateful this information can now be released not only to the public, but also to the grieving family enduring loss. It is unfathomable they have had to wait this long to learn what happened to their daughter. Transparency of the information contained in our findings and report is essential for empowering the community to make informed changes to effectively reduce fear and allowing the community to take informed action. Making the department's information publicly available is not just about accountability. It is about social justice and prevention. By ensuring access to this information, we strengthen our ability to learn, to act, and ultimately to prevent the next tragic loss of life. I want to extend my gratitude to our partner agencies for taking the necessary step of filing an order with the court to make this disclosure possible. April 23rd, 2026, in a follow-up court hearing, we learn that there was reportedly a quote significant amount of child pornography found on David's device or devices. A preliminary hearing is set for May 1st.

[00:44:33]April 29th, 2026. David's back in court.

[00:44:36]That is when the prosecution's pre-trial brief is released, the one that I've been talking about throughout this episode. The preliminary hearing is now continued, moved to May 26. April 30th, 2026. The death certificate has been amended to state that is unclear whether Celeste was pregnant before she died.

[00:44:52]Although I've talked about this before, there's nothing in the ME's report that suggests necessarily she was pregnant.

[00:44:57]And if there had been evidence she was pregnant, I got to believe prosecutors would have jumped on that as proof of the alleged illegal sexual relationship as motive. I spoke to forensic death investigator Joseph Scott Morgan about this. He suggested that they just had to put this down given the apparent messages regarding pregnancy and abortion and plan B that I referred to before. May 12th, 2026. The court continues the preliminary hearing now to June 29th. It is essentially an issue of there being a large amount of evidence to review in order to be properly prepared for this hearing where the defense will challenge the prosecution's evidence. A status conference has been set now for June 17th. So there you have it, full timeline in the David Celeste Rivas Hernandez case. We will continue to follow the preliminary hearing of David all week here on Law and Crime.

[00:45:43]You can check out the Law and Crime Plus app for more information on this case.

[00:45:48]We've been covering this story for a long time. You can also check out previous episodes on the case and the investigation into David here on YouTube as well as on Spotify. That will do it for this episode of On the Case presented by Law and Crime. Subscribe to us on YouTube and Spotify and we are now also streaming on Peacock. I'm Chris Stewart. We'll see you next time.