Prosecutors Present Texts About Abortion in Case Against Singer D4vd
During a preliminary hearing, prosecutors showed court officials text messages indicating the teen victim had an abortion and discussed contraception with the accused singer, David Anthony Burke.
Los Angeles County prosecutors introduced text messages recovered from the phone of singer David Anthony Burke, known as D4vd, that discuss an abortion and emergency contraception with Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 14-year-old girl he is charged with killing. The messages, spanning from August 2022 when Hernandez was 11 to April 2025, were displayed as evidence at a preliminary hearing on Friday.
Burke, who has pleaded not guilty to murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains, was seated shackled while the exhibits were shown. LAPD Detective Corey Farrell testified that the phone contained a large volume of explicit images of the pair and that the texts detailed sexual activity, plans for future meetings, and repeated references to abortion and Plan B.
One November 2023 exchange shows Hernandez writing, "If I'm pregnant tho I'm not having it though," followed by a December 20 message asking, "do I take the plan b?" Subsequent messages include discussions about obtaining an abortion, with Hernandez asking, "What if the first abortion didn’t work," and Burke replying, "let's have this be the last abortion until we have kids." Prosecutors also presented photographs of the two holding a package of Plan B in June 2024.
The hearing also featured testimony from Los Angeles Medical Examiner Dr. Grant Ho, who described the victim’s cause of death as multiple penetrating injuries and noted extensive dismemberment consistent with the use of a power tool. He said the victim had likely been deceased for weeks before her body was found in the trunk of a Tesla belonging to Burke.
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman alleged that Burke killed the girl to protect his music career after she threatened to expose him. Burke’s attorneys said they will "vigorously defend David’s innocence." The court will reconvene on Monday, with Judge Charlaine Olmedo deciding whether probable cause exists to move the case to trial.