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D4vd Had “Significant Amount” of Child Sex Abuse Images in iCloud Account, Prosecutors Say
Content warning: This story discusses child abuse, abortion and murder.
D4vd's text messages with Celeste Rivas Hernandez have come to light.
Messages revealed during a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles July 24 provide some window into what happened between the singer (real name David Anthony Burke) and Rivas Hernandez before he allegedly murdered the teen in April 2025.
Prosecutors said the pair began a sexual relationship in November 2023—when she was 13 and he was 18—and texts indicated that Rivas Hernandez had gotten pregnant with his child within a few months, though she ultimately had an abortion.
D4vd texted her in January 2024, “im sorry again baby I didn’t want to ever put you through this," and she replied, “no it’s ok we both aren’t able to take care of it,” per NBC News.
“wen u gonna get it done,” he asked, to which she replied, “two days," the Los Angeles Times reported, citing prosecutors at the hearing.
He then wrote, “also my mother always told me to ask this question if I was ever in this situation … it is mine right?” and she answered, “of course its yours David."
Seven months later, Rivas Hernandez expressed regret over how she “took an innocent life of a literal baby," per the outlet.
“I care abt u i killed my kid [for] you,” she wrote to him in August 2024. “i don’t like talking about it cause it gets [me really] upset but id do anything to have it back.”
Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty Images; GoFundMe
The pair had broken up eight times by the end of the year, according to one of D4vd's texts presented in court.
D4vd and Rivas Hernandez appeared to have had another falling out in March 2025, when she texted him that they could remain friends but only online and not in person, according to courtroom reporting from TMZ.
One text shown by prosecutors read, "I don't want anything to do w u in person anymore."
D4vd later texted Rivas Hernandez, "Yeah the boundary setting is terrible," to which she responded, "It's not even that, D, a lot more than just that," per the outlet.
Ted Soqui - Pool/Getty Images
The couple also got into an argument on April 22, 2025, according to a brief submitted by prosecutors and reshared by Courthouse News Service.
"The messages reveal the victim’s jealousy over defendant’s relationship with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together," the brief reads. "She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life."
On April 23, 2025, a then-20-year-old, D4vd allegedly sent an Uber to pick up Rivas Hernandez, then 14, and take her to his Hollywood Hills home, where prosecutors say he killed her.
"Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened," the brief alleges, “very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood while she bled out.”
Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Coachella
D4vd allegedly dismembered Rivas Hernandez’s body and kept the pieces in two bags that he stored in the front trunk of his Tesla for months, until the car was towed in September 2025 and her remains were discovered.
Following his April 2026 arrest, D4vd was charged with one count of murder, one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and one count of unlawful mutilation of human remains, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
D4vd has pleaded not guilty, with his attorney Marilyn Bednarski arguing that the severely decomposed state of Rivas Hernandez's remains makes it difficult to determine when she was killed and how.
During the July 24 hearing, D4vd’s counsel argued that the medical examiner "can’t rule that out that [Rivas Hernandez] would have been holding the instrument" that caused her injuries, per the L.A. Times.
Read on for more about the case against D4vd.
Instagram/D4vd
Where is D4vd From?
Born in Queens, New York, D4vd (real name David Anthony Burke) moved to Houston, Texas, when he was 13 years old.
Josh Brasted/FilmMagic
How Did D4vd Become Famous?
D4vd first began his career as a streamer, playing Fortnite and other games in an attempt to go viral on YouTube. When he ran into copyright infringement challenges with the music he was adding to his videos in 2021, he turned to his mom.
“I'm like crying to Mom about it,” he told Benny Blanco during an interview for Hero magazine in September 2024. “I'm like, Yo, I don't know what to do I'm not making any money anymore, blah blah blah.’ And she was on a phone, and she was like, ‘Just make your own music, go get out of my face.’ And I was like, ‘Wait a minute. I could probably do that.'"
From there, despite not having any musical experience other than singing for fun, D4vd downloaded an app on his phone and started making music. Soon, some of his songs went viral, and after more of his original music started to go viral on TikTok, his career began to really take off.
The 20-year-old eventually released his debut album, Withered, in April 2025, embarking on his first world tour shortly thereafter.
Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Riot / Netflix
When Was the Body Found in D4vd’s Car?
On Sept. 8, the Los Angeles Police Department was called to a tow yard in Hollywood over reports of a foul odor coming from a vehicle, law enforcement sources told NBC News.
The LAPD found human remains wrapped in a bag hidden in the front trunk of a Tesla, which was registered in Hempstead, Texas, under D4vd’s real name, David Anthony Burke.
Police said the vehicle had been towed to the impound lot after it was abandoned in the Hollywood Hills.
Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Made on YouTube 2024
Who Was the Victim Found in D4vd’s Car?
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office September 16 said the remains found in the Tesla were identified as Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been reported missing on April 5, 2024. She was 13 years old at the time of her disappearance and officials believe she died when she was 14.
Her manner of death was announced in April 2026 as homicide, while her cause of death was determined to be “multiple penetrating injuries” to her chest and abdomen, including an injury to her liver, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's report obtained by E! News. Though her death was officially pronounced September 8—the day her body was discovered—officials noted her body appeared to have been in the car for an extended period of time before its discovery and was “severely decomposed.”
Erika Goldring/Getty Images
What Has D4vd Said About the Investigation?
Following the discovery of Rivas Hernandez’s body, a spokesperson for D4vd said in a statement to NBC News that the singer "has been informed about what’s happened, and although he is still out on tour, he is fully cooperating with the authorities."
Since then, D4vd canceled the remainder of his U.S. dates.
Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
What Happened in the Case?
D4vd was arrested for Rivas Hernandez's murder, the Los Angeles Police Department announced April 16, 2026.
“Detectives from Los Angeles Police Department, Robbery-Homicide Division have arrested David Burke, a 21-year-old resident of Los Angeles, for the murder of Celeste Rivas," the public information officer stated on X. "Burke is being held without bail.”
Antoine Flament/Getty Images
What Was D4vd Charged With?
D4vd was charged with one count of murder, one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and one count of unlawful mutilation of human remains, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed in an April 20 press release.
“Celeste was just a child, under 14 years old, when David Burke allegedly engaged in repeated lewd and lascivious sexual relations with her,” District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said. “But Burke’s actions did not allegedly stop there. When she threatened to expose his criminal conduct and devastate his musical career, Burke allegedly murdered her, cut up her body and stuffed her body in two bags that were placed in the front trunk of his car. There the dismembered body sat for over four months decomposing until it was found at a tow yard on Sept. 8, 2025. This horrific and gruesome murder committed by the charged sexual predator is shocking and appalling. To Celeste’s loved ones, we will get the justice you seek and deserve.”
The criminal complaint against D4vd also “includes special circumstance allegations of murder of a witness, murder for financial gain and lying in wait.” Additionally, there is a “special allegation” that he “personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a sharp instrument, to commit the crime.”
D4vd's attorney's denied he was the cause of her death, telling E! News in an April 20 statement, "We will vigorously defend David’s innocence."
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