LOS ANGELES, United States: D4vd court texts presented on July 24 indicated that 13-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez became pregnant and underwent an abortion in 2024.
Los Angeles Police Department Detective Corey Farell testified that investigators recovered the messages from the iPhone and iCloud account of singer David Anthony Burke, known professionally as D4vd.
A January 2024 exchange showed Burke apologising for putting Hernandez through the pregnancy. She responded that neither of them could care for a baby, according to the Associated Press.
Farell said the pair repeatedly discussed pregnancy and emergency contraception. Later messages referred to an abortion and suggested that Hernandez had undergone the procedure.
Prosecutors allege that Burke sexually abused Hernandez after she turned 13. They accuse him of killing her on April 23, 2025, to prevent her from exposing the abuse and damaging his career with Introscope Records.
Read: D4vd Preliminary Hearing Opens in Celeste Rivas Case
Authorities found Hernandez’s dismembered remains inside the front trunk of Burke’s impounded Tesla on September 8, 2025.
Medical examiner Grant Ho testified that multiple penetrating wounds caused her death, although decomposition prevented investigators from determining the precise time of death.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged Burke with murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains.
Read: Festering Corpse Found in Tesla Trunk Linked to Rapper D4vd in 2025
The murder charge includes special-circumstance allegations involving financial gain, lying in wait and killing a witness.
Burke remains jailed without bail and has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers maintain that he did not kill Hernandez or cause her death. A judge will decide whether prosecutors presented enough evidence to proceed to trial.
