Singer D4vd’s preliminary hearing revealed text messages on Friday showing the teen girl he is accused of killing had an abortion.
D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is accused of killing and dismembering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the teen whom singer D4vd is accused of killing who had an abortion during their relationship according to text messages prosecutors shared in court Friday.
Prosecutors on Friday displayed in court a long series of text messages between the musician D4vd and the 14-year-old girl he is accused of killing and dismembering. D4vd and Celeste Rivas Hernandez met in August 2022, when Burke was 17 and Hernandez was 11. Their text messages began to discuss sexual relations a little more than a year later, shortly after she had turned 13 and he was 18.
“They discussed past sexual liaisons, future sexual liaisons,” LAPD Detective Corey Farell testified on the fourth day of Burke’s preliminary hearing. “They discussed sexual positioning, they discussed their relationship, the future of their relationship.
They also discussed contraception and abortions — Hernandez appears to have had at least two of them throughout their roughly 2 1/2-year relationship.
In court Friday, prosecutors introduced messages from late 2024 and early 2025 that suggested increasing strain in the relationship.
In an August 2024 exchange after an apparent argument, Celeste expressed regret and grief regarding an abortion.
Later messages referenced multiple breakups and reconciliation.
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,” according to NBC News. “wen u gonna get it done,” he asked, to which she replied, “two days,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Prosecutors claim D4vd texted Celeste, saying: “What [if] the first abortion didn’t work?”
Prosecutors shared one text exchange from November 2023 in which a 13-year-old Celeste said she was waiting for her period and stated, “If im pregnant tho im not having it though.” In a Dec. 20 exchange shared with the court, she texted him, “do I take the plan b?”
Los Angeles Police Department robbery-homicide detective Corey Farrell said D4vd and Rivas Hernandez had argued about his friendship with another woman in text messages the day before her alleged stabbing. Rivas Hernandez, then 14, wrote on April 22, “And u rlly saying youd [sic] end ur friendship just to be friends w her over me is disturbing and disgusting to me on a deeper level david,” according to courtroom reporting from People.
Just one day before her death, prosecutors said Rivas Hernandez sent D4vd a message, threatening to reveal the underage relationship, writing, “i will end ur career and ur life.”
As the images and text messages were discussed in court, Rivas Hernandez’s mother began crying and her father looked down as the detective began describing the photos. Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman came over to comfort the mother, Mercedes Martinez, and the couple got up and left the courtroom.
Burke is charged with murder, sexual abuse of a child and mutilation of a body. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his attorneys maintain he is innocent.
In the viral moment that prompted this case, prosecutors presented evidence showing Burke met Celeste when she was just 11 and he was 17 in 2022. Beginning in late 2023, when she turned 13 and he was 18, the two began exchanging sexually explicit text messages discussing contraception and pregnancy. She became pregnant at least once during their roughly 2.5-year relationship and had at least two abortions. The relationship intensified in the months before her death in April 2025, with Celeste becoming increasingly jealous of other women in Burke’s life. On April 22, she sent him messages accusing him of wanting to end their friendship for another woman. The next day, on April 23, Celeste was brought to Burke’s home and was never seen alive again. Prosecutors allege Burke stabbed her to death because she was threatening to expose their illegal sexual history and damage his music career as his debut album was about to be released.
The teen’s remains were found in September in the trunk of a Tesla that belongs to the singer, and D4vd was arrested in April.
The ruling was made after a five-day preliminary hearing that featured more than 10 witnesses as prosecutors attempted to show they had enough evidence to go to trial.