As a warning, some of the following reporting is very graphic and disturbing,...
and listen with care.
“Singer Songwider David Anthony Burke, better known by his stage name David, which is”
spelled D4VD, was back in court this week for a preliminary hearing.
Now in a preliminary hearing, the prosecution and defense present evidence to a judge who then decides if the proof is substantial enough to move on to a trial. Before the hearing began, it was anticipated to last at least three days. In April, 21-year-old David was charged with a murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. The teenagers dismembered remains were discovered in the front trunk of David's impounded
Tesla in September of 2025. The hearing started Tuesday on a gruesome note with the prosecution presenting photos of Celeste's dismembered body after her body was discovered in the impounded Tesla. CBS News reports that Celeste was unrecognizable given that her body was found five months after she was last seen.
And when the brisley images were presented, David appeared blank face, slumped in the chair that he was chained to. In addition to the murder charge, David has been charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14, the unlawful mutilation of human remains as well. The murder charges include what they call special circumstances, lying in weight, committing
the crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an investigation. A special circumstance means that if convicted, David faces the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. The LA County DA has not yet announced if they'll seek the death penalty, David has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
I'm 48 hours correspondent Ann Marie Green, and this is Case By Case.
“We've been following this case now for a few episodes, so if you want to revisit that coverage”
to check our Case By Case podcast feed and the 48 hours YouTube channel. When we last discussed this case, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has shared a brief on April 29 regarding preliminary hearing evidence alleging that Celeste
was 11 years old when she first met David and messages between the two suggests a sexual
relationship may have started when she was 13. Our preliminary hearing was supposed to take place in late May, but it kept on getting pushed back until it finally began earlier this week. This case has received a lot of attention, giving David's budding career the music business. At one point, opening for Grammy Award-winning artist Sizzam and creating tracks for the wildly
popular Fortnite video game. With me today to discuss what came out of court is Los Angeles Times investigative crime writer Richard Winton, Richard, thanks so much for joining us, I've returned to this podcast
“to talk about this, you know, you were in the courtroom, so I think I want to start with”
just sort of give us a lay of the land and then we'll talk about some of the pretty disturbing evidence that came out, but we know that in the courtroom, they presented some photographs of Celeste, Celeste alive, Celeste not alive, her family was there. This must have been really tough for them to see and hear. Yeah, I mean, it was clearly as the prosecutor makes begins the presentation shortly into it a
little bit. She says, she mouths it more than she actually physically says it, "Are you okay
to what's the mom quite clearly?" And then she goes and comforts her at the first break,
because yes, they're showing images of Celeste, the very alive teenager and then human remains, which are, as the detective bias who Josh Bias, who's the lead detective described them, there wasn't really, she didn't really have a face. Two of the fingers were removed because they would rescue his alleged, connect David to her because one of those fingers had his name on. So yeah, there was very dramatic, but even beyond that, like there was later on, there was some
testimony where a CHP officer, California Highway Drill said, recovered her passport card at a nearer lake somewhere and up in Santa Barbara County, and even that, the mum reacted to almost more. So obviously, you know, it's deeply personal, heartfelt, and yes, she was seeing she cried in the corridor outside as well. There's like a area outside, I mean, and they've been very quiet. They've not going with a big public spectacle, and they're not talking, you know,
Sometimes in these kind of cases, you get, they're not doing that kind of thi...
Right. Are they, are they expected to testify? Any members of her family? Not at this stage, they are not going to testify. So the preliminary hearing, it's taking place on the ninth floor of the LA County Superior Courthouse. You have told us that a lot of high-profile cases have taken place there. Is there
“particular reason why that location ends up being the location for so many high-profile cases?”
Basically in Los Angeles, that's like the high security level corridor, so typically high-level
gang murders, you name it, high celebrity cases, but more violent crimes, always, that was where
people who may remember Judge Lansito's courtroom was. When you bring up Edo, that was the judge in Noji Simpsons case. Yes, yes. So when you're on your judge on this floor, you know you will get the most important cases and the most media attention cases in Los Angeles. That floor has extra security measures. The lead prosecutor in this case, her name is Beth Silverman. She's got a nickname, LA magazine, once called her to the sniper, where does that come from? I'm not really sure how
that name came about because as I describe Beth, she's not someone who would be hiding in the
“long-range area of something. She's more directly confrontational and a very aggressive prosecutor.”
She did the grim sleeper, which was the serial killer who killed numerous women in South L.A. Yeah, but Beth is a no-take-no prison as prosecutor, but as one of her colleagues once told me, if your family members murdered, she's the one you want to prosecute it. He is being represented, as you mentioned, by some high-profile attorneys, Blair Burke, one Regina Peter, is another Marilyn Bernard Schee, is another Blair Burke,
as you point out, no stranger to celebrity cases in 2017. She joined Harvey Weinstein's defense team
when he was first facing accusations of sexual harassment and assault. Everyone may recall. There
was a case in New York, but then there was also in 2022 a case in California. He was convicted on one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault. Burke also represented clients like Mel Gibson in his 2011 case after he was accused of domestic abuse of his ex-girlfriend at the time, Oxana. There there was a negotiated sort of deal, a no-contest plea deal, so Mel Gibson avoided jail time. In this case, do you after sort of hearing what you've heard from the prosecution or from the
defense? Is this the type of case where a plea deal for something could be presented? In this case, there's the very minimum right now they're seeking life without parole. Most of the negotiations in California cases, accusations of murder, and this is murder with financial gain, murder with special circumstances of lying in white, and there's also continuous sexual abuse alleged. In this kind of case, typically what happens is
the defense, if they are going to negotiate, are trying to negotiate a deal where their client one day walks out of prison. Right, and so that's if there's going to be negotiation that would normally what it would be. Here, the District Attorney of Los Angeles, Nathan Hockman, this is the child
“murder, she's a child, you have to remember this, and you've got the sexual abuse element,”
and so his likelihood of death's silverman and him negotiating, anything less than, well, just
not, it's basically not negotiation, life without parole is probably their kind of minimum.
This may be, and the case that Hockman does seek the death penalty, because this case has kind of the bars, which usually would push those buttons, which are, it's a child that sexually abuse involved as a pattern of planning, he's saying lying in white, so if he's ever to get used to the death penalty, it's either this or a child, torture case, because these are the cases, if there's going to be one. Yeah, so based on what you've heard so far, then, could you, you know, what do
you foresee as perhaps the defense's arguments, what is it any sort of indication is to where the defense might go with this? Okay, so during the prelim, this is the prelim in California,
Basically, you just have this preponderance of the evidence, it's just like a...
standard. We're not talking beyond reasonable to help. Most people have seen trials, you have to
“prove everything beyond reasonable to help. It's intense level of moment. We see it in this case,”
you know, we see a lot of physical evidence of basically blood all over the garage,
and then there's all the purchases of chain saws, body bags, strange trips in his car, we had one of the forensic experts of the LAPD testified that it was likely based on the blood finds. Her body was actually in the front. What is Toyota affordability? It all starts with buying smart, and your Toyota dealer has great deals available to qualified customers on reliable cars and SUVs, including the redesigned RAV4, spacious Grand Highlander, sporty cameras, and Corolla's.
It means driving for less, with efficient hybrid and plug-in hybrid options available throughout
the lineup, extending your overall driving range and delivering great MPGs, saving you money at
“the pump, and it means trading for more. Toyota is known for building long-lasting vehicles,”
and is the best resale value brand according to Kelly Bluebook, your Toyota can be worth thousands more than average when it's time to trade in. That's Toyota affordability. Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more. Shop Toyota.com or your local dealer for deals and details. Vehicles projected resale value is specific to the 2026 Maliere for more information visit KellyBlueBooksKbv.com. Toyota brand average resale value is 53% versus the average vehicle at 45%.
Toyota, let's go places. That was a snippet of David's 2022 song "Romantic Homicide." The music video features a blindfolded David singing over the corpse of a young woman in what appears to be a blood-stained wedding gown and quick cuts reveal bloody knives pouring out of
suitcase. The video has over 200 million views on YouTube and commenters can't help but to
attach the lyrics to the artist's alleged crimes. Some viewers in the comments connect the date of the video's release on September 7th to Celeste Birthday. It's on the same day. He performed the song two years ago at PNC Live Studio session in Portland, Oregon, and a little over a year later one commenter called it one of the most haunted songs of our generation. Social media blew up in reaction to the case. David is an artist who built his career
online making YouTube videos and content around gaming and music after the gruesome allegations in this case. It seems that his vast digital footprint looks to resurface in the lead up to the trial. So Richard, the judge is currently evaluating the evidence with regards to this case. According to CBS News reporting, the prosecution has recovered over 40 terabytes of evidence. This is including data from David's phones and his eye cloud account and just to give you a sense of what
that looks like just one terabyte can account for at least 200,000 images. So the question here is could some of this include David's own music? Yes, it's definitely part of the evidence. It's the music he's published and the music he hasn't published as well, which may have lyrics for
“referencing the deceased. But importantly, I think it's emotional if they eventually got a trial,”
I think Beth Silwyn wanted to show jurors this, are some of the videos, some of the very graphic videos, not so much the lyrics, but often have bloody scenes, including one video where he drags a body to the back of a car and puts it in the trunk. I'm sure that she'll want to show that this is part of kind of the way he portrays things. I'm sure that all the imagery around his kind of so low rent horror kind of persona visually will be something she would like to show jurors.
It's often hard to solve categorizing recording, so a lot of this visual material is probably in those terabytes. But I think the way you sort of summed it up was really good. When I looked at the words, it's like a really simple, very short poem that outside of this context actually doesn't seem that interesting, but when you put it in the middle of a murder case, then it could become a problem. So the purpose of the hearing this week was to determine if there's enough evidence
to move forward with a murder trial. Yeah, I mean really honestly, the standard of prelim is pretty
Low and this literally before the prelim, Beth Silwyn went files this nine-pa...
which pretty much lays out. And this is very unusual. So this one is going to ask you, is that odd? Blair Burke pushed very quickly, which is your right and California law for a prelim as soon as possible, right? I can tell from her questions in court. She's somewhat trying to work out. Okay, how much of the stuff do they have solid when the forensic people up there, she kept asking
“in her cross? And so you were the first person in that scene, did the detectives go in there?”
She'd like numerous times off so they left up last thought. She's not really asking about the forensic people because she knows they're going to be. She's asking about the others. Right. Let's review some of what came out of that brief starting with the claim that Celeste
was allegedly 11 years old when she first met David and messages between the two suggested
a sexual relationship may have started two years later when she was 13. And the brief also noted that Celeste had gone missing before. Can you talk about that? The prosecutors have alleged in their brief that they have proof of a sexual relationship between the two of them.
“That includes messages, references to plan B, sex, abortion, and they did that's what they”
included in that sort of court briefing. In addition, she, this is documented. When we documented about Celeste at the LA Times, she was reported missing to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department three times during that same period in which they were having their relationship. Prosecutors say there was a significant amount of child pornography found on David's phone. According to the prosecution, these communications ceased April 23, 2025. And this is when they
believe Celeste died. What was going on between Celeste and David starting with the night before?
Basically, they'd go into some an argument, it seems, that she would become an angry or jealous.
“This is what the prosecutors alleged in their brief. They basically alleged that she implied that”
she would tell the world about their relationship. She's a minor. It would be a crime. So he brings it at the home via Uber. And once she's there, Prosecutors alleged in their filing document and partly from the what the medical examiner alleges, she was stabbed twice. That evening, interestingly, 20 minutes after she already was documented as arriving by that Uber, he's like asking where she is. It kind of paints the picture. Yeah, the cover, they that's
Prosecutors alleged. That's when that cover up begins. That night, he makes a strange driving trip in his Tesla all the way up to Santa Barbara County to a place called Lake Koutuma. I'm not sure what exactly he did, but that happens to be where they found her passport ID card. Like last November randomly. So they can prove that that card went there. They have licensed plate readers. They have all kinds of stuff which show their vehicle moved along the track. They
got kind of this stuff which tracks that vehicle. According to the prosecution, that's when he uses these various aliases to buy items which could only be described as a murder. If you were supposedly trying to get rid of a body, this is what you would do kind of ABC. So he starts ordering, could body bags, laundry bags, he was just chainsaws, a burn box, all these various items using sometimes an alias, Victoria Mendes, and another alias,
as well a male name. And some of these items prosecutors alleged that, well, we know from the testimony and call two of those two of those chainsaws had no blood on them. They were still in the garage. So yeah, we can see how they're constructing and they use these alias. Now, on cross, Blair Burke says, well, that ship, you know, basically, what's the kit and burn box every years? No, I mean, I've actually seen the thing. Someone actually shared me the image of the
the bomb box. It still basically looks like, you know, it's been up. It's never been opened.
There was also this bit about this, the, I think it's like a kitty pool or so...
fragments. Yes. So as we heard from the criminalists in the prelim. Basically, they found that
kitty pole and it's, I don't know, it's, it's not that small a kitty pole. It's a size it should fit a smaller person in it. And it, in that kitty pole, what they found was that had had some slash marks. So it looked like a blade of some, so I had been used in that pole. And the prosecutor, best known basically alleged is that's the remains of Celeste. They found in the embedded plastic
“material of that kitty pole. Right. That's what it seems like very clearly happened. And so that is,”
you know, the prosecution's assertion that Celeste's body was dismembered in that pool. And then that she was placed in the front or the front trunk of David's Tesla. They argue that he parked his car around the corner from his home and then he goes on tour. That car was ultimately towed and pounded and then Celeste remains were discovered inside. All of these details are incredibly graphic. They're disturbing. I know people want to hear from Celeste's family. They have not spoken
publicly, but their attorney released a statement at the April hearing. And I want to read some of that for you. In light of the gruesome details emerging almost daily, the family has decided not to make any statements now or in the future. There are no words to express the indescribable pain. The family is experiencing right now. They still have bills to pay and jobs they go to every day. All they want is time to grieve and heal. Please grant the Revis Hernandez family, Grace,
and compassion. And Richard there was also some public speculation that David may have financially supported Celeste's family at one point. But CBS News received a statement from Celeste's brother
as name as Jesus Revis. And he said, "I never had any contact with this guy and we haven't received
any money from him or anyone in his family." Yeah, I mean there's nothing in evidence that they have this financial connection. There's no implication that he knows even knows the family at this point. It's all now there is an implication that she did meet his family. And that is in the cult briefing
“by the district attorney. I think Richard, it's a reminder that though this is a high profile case”
with a celebrity defendant, this is real life for them. They still have to pay their bills. They still have to do all the things that they were doing. And then they still have to be kind of confronted with the media interest and the social media interest and the commentary and the comment section is doing what the comment section does and they're just a regular family. You know what's really interesting about this case is? Now we have a difference of press. It's not just the press call.
There's all these social media influences who are turning up to the proceeding who cover and follow the proceeding. And so and they're all doing these videos and it's really an interesting dynamic, but it also means it just permeates out into the internet just an incredible rate compared with other stories. So I'm sure this family can hardly avoid this, see if I'm in daily life. So then as we look ahead, what's next? What details will we see coming out of the preliminary
hearing that you think could inform the rest of the trial? In the end, the brief is basically what they're going to present and that's a lot. And that was highly unusual as one we talked to a
couple of other former prosecutors and they said they'd never seen anyone file a what is
mounts to a trial brief at a prelim. And what's oh we're going to tell you we're going to be totally transparent. This is we go all this already. So you thought we weren't ready? Oh no, we have
“all this stuff. How do you think Blair Burke and Beth Silverman will be approaching this case?”
Well, Beth Silverman seems to be being very just blunt and direct. I mean the fact that she proud of prelim brief, which detailed most love a case, the fact that she just doesn't seem to be hiding much. Well, I tell you Richard, it's already kind of a hell of a case. My heart just breaks for so less family. I feel for them because yeah, this is now a celebrity case. And so the level of attention that they're going to be getting is going to be a tough one for them.
Richard, you keep coming back to talk to us and we really appreciate it.
continuing to discuss as this case unfolds. Thank you. And we'll be back next week with another episode
“of case by case. Be sure to rate and review. And let us know which cases you are following and you”
want us to follow as well. Hello and welcome to Pluto foe. If you know the name of the
movie you'd like to see, just stream it for free on Pluto TV. We're all your blockbuster favorites
“to landing all summer long. Catch Anchor Man, the legend of Ron Burgundy. Fantastic. The matrix trilogy. Welcome to the real world.”
Mean girls. Sad bro. Titanic. I'm the king of the world. And so much more for showtimes. Press
nothing. They're free 24/7. But is so fast. Pluto TV, stream now, pay never.
