LOS ANGELES — Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the teenager whom singer D4vd is accused of killing, had an abortion throughout their relationship, textual content messages proven in courtroom on Friday acknowledged.
Subscribe to learn this story ad-free
Get limitless entry to ad-free articles and unique content material.
D4vd, whose authorized title is David Anthony Burke, has been charged with killing and dismembering the 14-year-old.
He has pleaded not responsible to costs of homicide, steady sexual abuse of a kid beneath the age of 14 and illegal mutilation of human stays. The singer has been in courtroom this week for a preliminary listening to to find out whether or not there’s sufficient proof to place him on trial.
The teenager’s stays had been present in September within the trunk of a Tesla that belongs to the singer, and D4vd was arrested in April.
Photographs and texts between the 2, which had been recovered from his cellphone throughout a search of his dwelling, had been proven in courtroom Friday. They included specific sexual pictures of the pair, pictures inside a Tesla, photographs of what gave the impression to be an engagement ring and tattoos related to their relationship.
D4vd was seated shackled and impassive because the photographs had been proven.
LAPD Detective Corey Farrell testified that the cellphone contained a big quantity of specific pictures of D4vd and Celeste partaking in sexual exercise.
Textual content messages between the pair traced again to August 2022 — when Celeste was 11 — by way of April 23, 2025.
These texts mentioned previous and future liaisons, sexual positions, and assembly factors, Farrell testified.
The texts additionally mentioned abortion and emergency contraception “many instances,” Farrell mentioned. He mentioned the texts point out the pair had a sexual relationship from November 2023 to March 2025, when Celeste was 13 and D4vd was 18 or 19.
In a single textual content trade from November 2023, a 13-year-old Celeste mentioned she was ready for her interval and acknowledged, “If im pregnant tho im not having it although.” In one other trade on Dec. 20, she texted him, “do I take the plan b?”
In an trade on Jan. 8, 2024, D4vd texted her, “im sorry once more child I didn’t wish to ever put you thru this.” She replied, “no it’s okay we each aren’t capable of handle it,” in accordance with the textual content displays. She later mentioned, “it’s okay tho neither considered one of us are able to watch or caring for a child.” He later texted: “When re you gonna get it achieved? And he or she mentioned “2 days.”
In a textual content on June 10, 2024, Celeste requested, “What if the primary abortion didn’t work.”
A textual content from D4vd the next day mentioned: “lets have this be the final abortion till now we have youngsters.”
On July 9, 2024, D4vd texted Celeste: “I’m interested by your abortion reward.”
In one other textual content on Sept. 22, 2024, she requested: “am I gonna get preg.”
Prosecutors additionally confirmed pictures displaying the pair holding a bundle of Plan B in June 2024.
In different exchanges, the 2 mentioned marriage and plans for a future collectively. In one other collection of texts, they mentioned whether or not anybody knew about their relationship.
In courtroom Friday, prosecutors launched messages from late 2024 and early 2025 that instructed rising pressure within the relationship.
In an August 2024 trade after an obvious argument, Celeste expressed remorse and grief relating to an abortion. Later messages referenced a number of breakups and reconciliation.
By March 2025, shortly earlier than the final communications recovered from the cellphone, Celeste informed D4vd she not wished an in-person relationship and felt their interactions revolved round intercourse quite than a relationship.
“The way in which we’re going, its not occurring. Possibly if issues had been totally different. All we do is have intercourse and simply hang around man,” she wrote.
Earlier throughout Friday’s listening to, the courtroom heard testimony from Los Angeles Medical Examiner Dr. Grant Ho, who carried out Celeste’s post-mortem. Ho testified her reason for demise was a number of penetrating accidents and the way was murder.
He mentioned the precise time of demise couldn’t be decided as a result of superior state of decomposition, however she had “possible been deceased for not less than weeks” and it’s potential she might have been useless since April 25.
Earlier courtroom filings state that D4vd despatched a automobile to select up Celeste the evening of April 23, 2025, from her hometown, Lake Elsinore, California, 80 miles exterior Los Angeles. After she arrived at his Hollywood dwelling, her cellphone died.
Ho described postmortem dismemberment together with severed arms, legs and amputated ring and pinky fingers from her left hand. He mentioned it was according to use of energy instrument, probably a chainsaw.
Ho additionally mentioned Celeste bore two vital penetrating accidents — one wound to her stomach, which handed by way of the diaphragm and injured the liver, and the opposite penetrated the left facet of her chest, damaging ribs and entered the chest cavity. He mentioned both of these accidents might have been deadly.
He mentioned these wounds had been almost definitely sustained earlier than her demise as a result of their life-threatening nature.
Los Angeles District Lawyer Nathan Hochman has accused Burke of killing the woman to take care of his profitable music profession, which he mentioned she threatened.
Attorneys for the entertainer have mentioned they are going to “vigorously defend David’s innocence.”
Proceedings will resume Monday. There isn’t a jury. Los Angeles County Superior Court docket Decide Charlaine Olmedo will decide whether or not the prosecution provided sufficient proof to exhibit possible trigger to proceed to trial.
