Bodycam footage played at D4vd’s hearing as he claimed he didn’t know Celeste Rivas was a minor

US singer D4vd, whose real name is David Burke, reportedly told police that he believed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was an adult, according to evidence presented during his preliminary hearing in Los Angeles.

D4vd, 21, has pleaded not guilty to charges including murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains. The hearing is being held to decide whether there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial. It is not a trial, and the allegations have not been proven in court.

According to Sky News, prosecutors played bodycam footage from February 2024. This was when sheriff’s deputies were investigating a missing persons report involving Celeste. In the footage, D4vd reportedly told officers he had only met her once in person. He claimed he did not know she was underage.

“She told me she was 18,” D4vd said in the video. “Everybody’s telling me she was 13.”

It was also reported that D4vd told deputies that he had met Celeste online. He said he met her through Instagram and Discord in 2020 or 2021. He said they had met in person a few months before the police visit. And he had last spoken just days earlier. D4vd gave officers Celeste’s phone number. He also showed them a yearbook photo of her as well as a missing persons post from Instagram.

But prosecutors have presented a very different version of events

via Instagram/D4vd

According to a court filing previously reported by Sky News, prosecutors allege D4vd first met Celeste when she was 11 years old. And they allegedly began a sexual relationship when she was 13, and he was 18. They also allege he arranged an Uber to bring her from Lake Elsinore to his Hollywood home on 23 April 2025.

Prosecutors claim they exchanged messages until she arrived, after which her phone activity stopped.

The court filing states, “Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened, very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out.”

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D4vd denies the allegations.

Prosecutors have also alleged that investigators recovered a “significant amount” of child sexual abuse material during the investigation following D4vd’s arrest. Those allegations have not been tested in court.

Prosecutors also presented graphic evidence in court

via Celeste’s family

During the first day of the preliminary hearing, LAPD Detective Joshua Byers testified that officers found Celeste’s decomposed remains inside the front trunk of a Tesla registered to D4vd in September 2025. The court was shown graphic evidence from the scene. But the details of those images were not fully discussed in open court.

D4vd’s legal team continues to maintain his innocence. In an earlier statement, his lawyer said, “Let us be clear, the actual evidence in this case will show that David D4vd did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death.”

The lawyer added, “We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”

The preliminary hearing is expected to continue over several days. The judge will decide whether prosecutors have presented enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial. D4vd remains presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

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