{"id":624357,"date":"2026-04-23T23:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T23:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/624357\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T23:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T23:44:11","slug":"d4vd-hearing-child-pornography-among-evidence-in-celeste-rivas-hernandez-murder-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/624357\/","title":{"rendered":"D4vd hearing: Child pornography among evidence in Celeste Rivas Hernandez murder case"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Child pornography is among the key evidence Los Angeles prosecutors say will bolster their case against alt-pop singer d4vd<\/a>, who has been charged with murder and prolonged sexual abuse of a middle school-aged girl whose remains were found in the trunk of his car last year.\n <\/p>\n

\n The 21-year-old entertainer, who was arrested on April 16, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder with special circumstances, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 years old and mutilating human remains.\n <\/p>\n

\n D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is accused of killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez \u2013 who was last seen alive<\/a> going to his home in April 2025 \u2013 when she threatened to expose his sexual relationship with her and ruin his career, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.\n <\/p>\n

\n Celeste was killed by multiple penetration wounds, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday by the Los Angeles County medical examiner\u2019s office.\n <\/p>\n

\n During a court hearing Thursday, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said evidence against the singer includes \u201ca significant amount of child pornography\u201d on Burke\u2019s iPhone, a wiretap and up to 40 terabytes of data obtained by various law enforcement agencies.\n <\/p>\n

\n The digitization and transfer of that evidence \u2013 which includes police documents, sheriff\u2019s department data, body-worn camera videos, forensic reports, vehicle reports and images, and chemical processing \u2013 was discussed in court.\n <\/p>\n

\n Under the law, child pornography evidence can\u2019t be obtained without adhering to a specific protocol from the court, Silverman said. Her office has begun handing over the investigative findings to d4vd\u2019s attorneys, who said Monday they had received \u201calmost no discovery\u201d related to the case.\n <\/p>\n

\n As Burke sat in court, clad in a bright orange jumpsuit, the defense asked to postpone the preliminary hearing because it is waiting on evidence from the district attorney\u2019s office. The hearing is now set for May 1.\n <\/p>\n

\n Blair Berk \u2013 one of d4vd\u2019s attorneys \u2013 said previously in a statement, \u201cThe actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death. We will vigorously defend David\u2019s innocence.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n Ahead of the charges against Burke, details of how Celeste died and who was under investigation remained hidden as authorities convened a grand jury<\/a> and shielded investigative findings from the public.\n <\/p>\n

\n But an autopsy report, which had previously been sealed by a judge, was finally released Wednesday. It revealed Celeste died from \u201cmultiple penetrating injuries.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The girl\u2019s dismembered body was found in September in the front trunk of d4vd\u2019s Tesla, which had been towed from the Hollywood Hills to a police impound lot.\n <\/p>\n

\n Celeste\u2019s remains were in a zippered body bag and she had two wounds that \u201cmay represent sharp force injuries\u201d \u2013 one to her chest and another to her abdomen, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner\u2019s office. Additional skin abrasions are noted, though the medical examiner could not determine the causes because of the severe decomposition of the body.\n <\/p>\n

\n Her arms and legs had been dismembered, and multiple blue plastic fragments were \u201cembedded in the cut surfaces,\u201d and submitted into evidence, the report details. Two fingers had also been removed from her left hand.\n <\/p>\n

\n Board Certified Forensic Pathologist Dr. Priya Banerjee, who reviewed the report that was made public and is not involved with the case, said the injuries described were most consistent with stabbing and the girl was likely dismembered after she died.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is a very difficult case because of the decomposition,\u201d Banerjee said. \u201cIt looks like likely a knife made [the wounds] but I can see why they use the wording they did, given the condition of the body.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n A tattoo reading \u201cShhh\u2026.\u201d was documented on the inside of her right index finger, according to the medical examiner\u2019s report, similar to the tattoo d4vd has on his finger.\n <\/p>\n

\n Alcohol was also detected in her system, though the medical examiner notes it\u2019s unclear whether it\u2019s present because of ingestion or decomposition.\n <\/p>\n

\"Celeste<\/p>\n

\n Celeste, who was in seventh grade, had been linked to Burke around the time of her disappearance in 2024. The pair had appeared together on a Twitch stream that January, and d4vd had been photographed blocks from the girl\u2019s home in Lake Elsinore, California, sometime between January and March 2024, CNN has reported.\n <\/p>\n

\n Around that time, Celeste\u2019s family and friends became increasingly worried about her safety and whereabouts, urgently pleading for help from their neighbors, the public and police. She was reported missing three times<\/a> between February and April 2024, culminating in a final missing person report to police on April 5 of that year.\n <\/p>\n

\n The girl remained alive for at least a year after being reported missing, though it is unclear where she was staying or who was aware of her location.\n <\/p>\n

\n Celeste was last known to be alive on April 23, 2025, when d4vd summoned her to his home in the Hollywood Hills, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cShe was never heard from again,\u201d the district attorney said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Several months passed before Celeste\u2019s body was found in the singer\u2019s car in September 2025. The black Tesla had apparently been abandoned on a street not far from the home where d4vd was renting, neighbors said. After sitting untouched, the car was impounded and towed to a lot in Hollywood, where an employee alerted police to a foul smell emanating from the vehicle.\n <\/p>\n

\n Seven more months passed as investigators remained tight-lipped and fielded criticism for the lack of an arrest in the case. Legal analysts have told CNN the investigation may have been prolonged by several factors<\/a>, including severely decomposed evidence, sensitive allegations involving a minor and a handful of reluctant witnesses.\n <\/p>\n

\"Relatives<\/p>\n

\n The murder charge the singer faces carries three special circumstances: lying in wait, committing a murder for financial gain and murdering \u201ca witness to a crime.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Prosecutors accuse d4vd of engaging in \u201ccontinuous sexual abuse\u201d of Celeste starting in September 2023 until September 2024, and they say Celeste witnessed \u201clewd and lascivious sexual acts\u201d the singer committed.\n <\/p>\n

\n Hochman accused d4vd of killing the girl \u201cto maintain his very lucrative musical career that Celeste was threatening\u201d on April 23.\n <\/p>\n

\n Celeste\u2019s family was overwhelmed and devastated to hear details of the allegations against d4vd during his arraignment on Monday, their attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, told CNN.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cCeleste was a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance,\u201d the family said in a statement.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe love her very much and she always told us that she loved us,\u201d they added. \u201cWe miss her deeply. All we want is Justice for Celeste.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN\u2019s Lauren Mascarenhas, Alaa Elassar, Zoe Sottile, Norma Galeana and Kyung Lah contributed to this report.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Child pornography is among the key evidence Los Angeles prosecutors say will bolster their case against alt-pop singer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-624357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}