D4vd murder case: Detective says singer's phone had sexual photos of teen, talk of abortion
Published in News & Features
LOS ANGELES — Dozens of photographs and text messages taken from D4vd’s cellphone suggest the singer impregnated a teenage girl and convinced her to have an abortion when she was just 13 — a year before he allegedly killed her and dismembered her body, according to evidence made public in court Friday afternoon.
Los Angeles police Detective Corey Farell laid out the alleged sexually abusive relationship between the singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, and Celeste Rivas Hernandez in graphic detail, during what is likely the final segment of Burke’s preliminary hearing on murder and sex abuse charges. Burke has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing through his attorneys.
Farell and Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman displayed hundreds of pictures and texts that show Burke and Hernandez discussing sexual interactions, fears of a pregnancy and ultimately, an abortion appointment being made in January 2024.
The messages on the phone spanned from November 2023 to March 2025, the detective said. There were nearly 50 photographs captured from a search of Burke’s phone that also depicted either Hernandez naked or the pair engaged in sex acts, according to Farell. Burke’s cellphone lock screen was a picture of the pair, topless, locked in an embrace, the detective said.
Other photos showed Hernandez touching hands with Burke while wearing a ring. At least one image captures a tattoo of the name “David” in red ink on Hernandez’s finger. Prosecutors have alleged that Burke amputated two of Hernandez’s fingers after dismembering her body with a chainsaw last year, allegedly to cover up evidence of the tattoo linking the two.
According to text messages displayed in court, the two also discussed a plan to move in together in February 2024, which Hernandez dubbed “Operation Awesome.” Hernandez was reported missing to Riverside County authorities by her parents that same month.
In January 2024, Burke and Hernandez had an exchange about the 13-year-old possibly being pregnant with his child, according to the messages shown in court.
“wen u gonna get it done,” Burke asked, referencing an abortion appointment, according to Farell.
“two days,” Hernandez wrote back, according to the texts shown in court.
“also my mother always told me to ask this question if I was ever in this situation … it is mine right?” Burke asked.
“of course its yours David,” Hernandez replied, according to the detective’s testimony.
When the two discussed a plan for Hernandez to move into Burke’s Los Angeles residence around Valentine’s Day 2024, Burke referred to the date as “the most important day of your life next to da wedding day,” according to the texts displayed in court.
Before delving into the pictures — which were not displayed to the court because prosecutors said many of them constituted child sex material — a visibly emotional Silverman turned to Hernandez’s parents and pleaded with them to leave the courtroom, warning them “it’s too much.”
Eventually, they stood up and exited. Hernandez’s mother could be heard softly crying as she exited into the hallway.
Prosecutors charge that Burke killed Hernandez last April and stuffed her dismembered body inside the trunk of his Tesla, where it was discovered months later. Prosecutors say Hernandez was last seen alive at the 21-year-old’s Doheny Place residence after she threatened to reveal their relationship.
The singer has has rarely spoken or betrayed reactions to testimony. It is not clear whether his attorneys will call any witnesses before the proceeding ends. Farell is expected to be the final prosecution witness, meaning the proceedings should wrap up Monday.
An autopsy of the teen’s remains made public following the singer’s arrest in April revealed she died from two fatal stab wounds. Silverman began this week’s preliminary hearing by showing grisly photos of Hernandez’s decomposing corpse, which was found in September 2025 in a Hollywood tow yard.
Burke met Hernandez online when she was about 11 years old, court records have shown. Burke — a rising alternative music star who was on tour supporting his debut album and hit song “Romantic Homicide” when Hernandez’s body was found — began abusing the girl in 2023, prosecutors charge.
The pair “broke up” in November of 2024, according to a nine-page memo filed by Silverman earlier this year, but stayed in contact. Burke and Hernandez got into an argument the night before prosecutors say she was killed, with the teen expressing frustration and jealousy over Burke’s relationships with other women.
Hernandez was last seen alive April 23, 2025 near Burke’s residence, prosecutors have said. The singer ordered her a ride from her Lake Elsinore home.
If convicted as charged, Burke would face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. Prosecutors have not indicated whether they intend to pursue capital punishment. Friday marked the fourth day of the preliminary hearing, in which Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo will decide whether prosecutors have enough evidence to take Burke to trial.
Prosecutors contend Burke killed Hernandez for financial gain after she threatened to expose the alleged abuse and “destroy” his ascendant music career.
After the killing , prosecutors allege, Burke purchased shovels, three chainsaws and an inflatable pool, a cadaver bag and a burn cage all under aliases as part of an effort to destroy his victim’s remains. Burke used one of the chainsaws to cut apart Hernandez’s body, which he placed inside the pool hoping it would capture most of her blood, prosecutors have alleged.
An LAPD DNA expert, Samantha Tosch, testified Thursday that evidence recovered from apparent blood stains in the garage of D4vd’s Hollywood Hills home had a strong DNA match to Hernandez. A separate Los Angeles Police Department expert testified she took the samples from a rubber floor mat, a rowing machine, a green tarp, cleaning items in a trash and a Tesla charger in the garage.
Lauren Wallace, another LAPD expert , said she conducted her examination of Burke’s home roughly a week after police found Hernandez’s body and nearly four months after prosecutors believe Hernandez was killed.
Photos displayed by Silverman in court Wednesday morning showed investigators recovered 11 air fresheners from inside the car, indicating someone was trying to suppress the strong odor coming from Hernandez’s badly decomposed remains.
Wallace said she found two chainsaws in the garage that “tested negative” for blood, but was unable to find a 10-inch Makita chainsaw, which prosecutors claim was one of many items Burke purchased in late April and early May that could be used in the disposal of a body.
On Friday morning, Burke’s defense team tried to sow doubt about the conclusiveness of the autopsy conducted in the case. For more than an hour, attorney Marilyn Bednarski peppered L.A. County Deputy Medical Examiner Grant Ho with questions about whether the severely decomposed state of Hernandez’s remains made it hard for him to ascertain key details, including time of death or the type of weapon that was used to kill the girl.
Bednarski asked a number of questions suggesting the possibility that Hernandez was holding the weapon that killed her, that she injured herself or that the killing happened in the course of a struggle.
“You can’t rule that out that she would have been holding the instrument that caused either of those wounds?” the attorney asked.
While Ho said he could not, he also noted the autopsy did not uncover “hesitation marks,” referring to lesser injuries caused in the process of committing self-harm.
Police did not recover a murder weapon in Hernandez’s death, nor have they presented exact evidence about the moment she was killed.
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