Text messages between singer D4vd and Celeste Rivas Hernandez shown in court on Friday show she was pregnant and had an abortion more than a year before she was killed.In an exchange in early January 2024, D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, apologized for “putting him through this.”
The text messages revealed: Celeste Rivas Hernandez is pregnant
“It’s okay,” he said in a text, “none of us can watch and take care of the baby. For the best right?”He apologizes again before asking if it’s hers, to which she replies “of course it’s yours.”The testimony came during a preliminary hearing where a judge will decide whether Burke should be tried for his murder.
Pictures shown in court
Prosecutors spent part of Friday afternoon detailing the nature of the relationship between Burke and Rivas Hernandez, showing graphic, sexual photos of the two of them.The pictures were taken from his iPhone which was seized during the search of his house. Text message conversations taken from her iCloud account frequently discussed contraception and pregnancy, and in early January 2024, they discussed her having an abortion.
Prosecutors claimed that D4vd was the victim of a minor victim who was ‘sexually abused’
Prosecutors sought to prove that Burke began sexually abusing Rivas Hernandez when he was 13 and she was 18, then stabbed him to death when he threatened to expose their long sexual history and his career. They allege he dismembered the body in his garage, and a police analyst testified at a preliminary hearing that samples taken from apparent bloodstains there matched Rivas Hernandez’s DNA.
Doctors reveal details about the murder
The doctor who performed the autopsy on 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez gave the difficult details of her death on Friday in a hearing to determine if the singer D4vd should be tried for her murder.Most of what Dr. Grant Ho of the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner on the stand already knows this. He was killed by two stab wounds to his upper body and his mutilated, decomposed body was found in the trunk of a Tesla.But the details he shared of what the autopsy showed — and said, what was unknown because of the deterioration of his body when it was found — made Friday’s proceedings the most difficult yet. Photos shown from the autopsy led to uncomfortable shifting of seats and murmurs in the courtroom.The defense raised uncertainties to suggest there were other causes of death, including an overdose or self-inflicted injury.Autopsy conclusions are difficult to reachHe testified that he could not say when death occurred – one of the many challenges that come with the body’s decomposition.“It’s really hard to say,” Ho said.He said he had been dead for “at least weeks,” later adding that it could have been months. Authorities believe he was killed in April 2025; his body was discovered in September.
Celeste Riva murder case
Rivas Hernandez’s body was discovered in a Tesla towed from the Hollywood Hills in September, nearly five months after authorities said Rivas Hernandez was killed.Rivas Hernandez was found the day after he would have turned 15.“He didn’t make it to his 15th birthday, did he?” Silverman asked. “Right,” replied Ho.Ho said there were several “skin defects” that could have been done postmortem, but the two he identified as possible stab wounds were related to internal trauma. An abdominal wound penetrated his liver. The other, on the left chest, damaged his ribs.Ho said, “it takes minutes, at least,” for a person to lose enough blood to die from the injuries. The prosecution stated in a court filing that Burke “was standing while he was bleeding.” When pressed, he said it might take an hour, but he wouldn’t commit to that.
The defense seized on the never-ending drug test
He testified that toxicology tests, which were performed only on his liver because no blood was available, showed a small level of alcohol that could have been caused by the bacteria postmortem. He said tests initially showed positives for benzodiazepines — drugs commonly used for anxiety — and methamphetamine. He said further tests for benzodiazepines were negative. The methamphetamine was inconclusive, and as a result Ho said “I can’t say it played a role in the death.“Burke’s attorney, Marilyn Bednarski, asked if the decay would affect the accuracy of the drug test results, and Ho agreed that it could.“In the toxicology report there is not enough information to support an overdose death, correct?” Bednarski asked. Ho said he was right.Bednarski questioned whether it would help an autopsy to talk to the deceased’s friends and family about their life — whether they had a mental health issue, were suicidal, a chronic drug user or violent.Ho addressed the “potential” of each but said there was no such conversation in this case.Ho said he could not say if there was a struggle before death, or where the wounds came from.“You can’t rule out that he was holding an instrument that caused either of those wounds?” Bednarski asked.Ho said that self-inflicted injuries usually include surrounding superficial “marks of doubt” – and those that are not found – but otherwise, he could not say.
D4vd to be tried for murder?
Burke could be tried for murder, mutilation and sexual abuseProsecutors sought to prove that Burke began sexually abusing Rivas Hernandez when he was 13 and she was 18, then stabbed him to death when he threatened to expose their long sexual history and his career. They allege he dismembered the body in his garage, and a police analyst testified at a preliminary hearing that samples taken from apparent bloodstains there matched Rivas Hernandez’s DNA.
D4vd pleads ‘not guilty’
The preliminary hearing began on Tuesday, and will be used by a judge to decide whether the case should go to trial.Burke has pleaded not guilty to murder, sexual abuse of a child and mutilation, and his lawyers have said he is innocent.