Prosecutors on Monday detailed the last night of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, showing that after a series of text messages with singer D4vd, her phone was on silent when she arrived at his home.The texts were shown in court on the fifth and final day of a hearing in Los Angeles before Judge Charlaine Olmedo ruled there was enough evidence to hold D4vd on trial for killing and dismembering the 14-year-old.
Celeste Rivas Hernandez visits D4vd at home
Just after 10 a.m. on April 23, 2025, as she approached his home in Hollywood in the Uber car he sent to pick her up, she sent her last text message: “Girls, if you’re home, I’m almost there, open the door.”Prosecutors say D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, stabbed her to death as she walked through the door.
Celeste Rivas Hernandez and D4vd argue over new relationship
The night before, the two had argued over text messages about his relationship with a woman. She sent him an angry and profane text message, saying she would tell her dad a lot of lies about him and “I would end your career and your life.”Detective Corey Farrell of the Los Angeles Police Department read texts obtained from search warrants on Burke’s iPhone and iCloud account during an interview with prosecutors.
Defense argued there was insufficient evidence of murder
After the last witness came forward on Monday, the defense argued there was insufficient evidence and the murder charge should be dismissed.“There is no evidence that Mr. Burke intentionally murdered Miss Hernandez,” said Burke’s attorney, Marilyn Bednarski.She said communications between Burke and Rivas-Hernandez showed “no threats, no evidence of a history of violence” and that he had “malice as opposed to homicidal malice” toward her.She argued that the medical examiner’s ruling that her death was a homicide from two stab wounds was too vague and uncertain to be evidence of foul play. The defense did not directly offer an alternative theory as to the cause of her death, nor was it necessary to do so.District Attorney Beth Silverman told the judge that “the defense made repeated attempts throughout this proceeding to taint the victim” even though she was a child.Detectives also said under questioning from Burke that both Burke and Rivas-Hernandez’s parents were aware of their relationship, that he attended church with her family and that her parents agreed that she would go to London with him for a week.
Prosecutors accuse D4vd of starting cover-up of killings
When her phone went silent, Burke sent her several messages that night asking where she was and expressing concern. Prosecutors said the messages were sent as a cover after he killed her.Prosecutors allege Burke dismembered the body in his garage. A police analyst testified earlier at the hearing that samples taken from apparent blood stains there matched her DNA.Nearly five months later, her body was found in a Tesla registered to him.
Detective documents sex abuse
In earlier testimony, Farrell recounted dozens of sexually explicit photos of Burke and Rivas Hernandez, as well as text messages over the years describing the same content, as well as conversations indicating she had an abortion in 2024 when she was 13.Farrell described the photos, which cannot be shown in court, as so vivid that they brought Rivas Hernandez’s mother to tears and prompted both parents to leave the courtroom on Friday. They are back in court Monday.
Defense says Celeste Rivas Hernandez threatened D4vd
The defense also showed several other text messages from Rivas-Hernandez threatening his relationship with Burke and saying she would go to Burke’s mother, talk to his friends and “leak” information about them.Under questioning from defense lawyer Blair Burke, Farrell said he had seen no indication that she had threatened to call the police or take any legal action against him.The defense also testified that she asked to see him seven times in the days before her death, to which he reluctantly agreed and that she threatened to kill Burke and dismember him.The defense argued that all the malice came from her.
D4vd’s career is reaching new heights
D4vd (pronounced “David”) became an online musical phenomenon in their teens, blending indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He has a massive following on TikTok, Soundcloud, and Spotify, and his hit songs, including his 2022 breakthrough “Romantic Killing,” have been played more than 1 billion times.In 2024, two days after authorities said Rivas Hernandez was killed, he performed at the Coachella music festival and released his first full-length album, “Withered.”
