What Happened Between D4vd & Celeste?

This week on Black Girls Guide to True Crime, we dive into the mysterious and internet-fueled “D4VD Case” — a story packed with viral rumors, online obsession, and the blurred line between celebrity culture and true crime storytelling. Join us as we unpack the timeline, the reactions, and the cultural conversations surrounding the case — all with the honesty and sharp analysis you know and love. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Hey y'all, welcome back to season two of a black girl's guide to true crime. I'm Lauren, I'm your host, and I'm back. I just want to thank the listeners of the show. Thank you for being patient and loyal. I'm gonna do my best to deliver y'all some consistent content this season. My best friend also has a podcast called Maison La Alchemy. I just want y'all to go check that out. I'm gonna link it in the bio as well. I see she also has a new episode up, so that was a virtual accountability call for me to get back to it. While True Crime can be dark, her podcast is so light and affirmative, and it will just make you feel good. So make sure y'all check it out so you can have a dose of both, okay? Me and my girl, we're gonna keep y'all balanced. But we are in dark mode for now, okay? Dark mode iPhone, dark mode social media, dark mode, everything, darkness in my heart, okay? But I want to do a lot more cases that are happening in real time. I also want to make sure we revisit some cases that have wrapped up and just make sure we're tying all our loose ends. No true crime pun intended. We have to report on some of these cases that have come full circle because it's all about the follow-through. I will be honest with y'all, I've been off the horse for a little minute with the podcasting, so I don't really remember what I'm supposed to be plugging right now. So I'm just gonna put the links in the bio. That's gonna be a one-stop shop, if you will. Our email is still active, she's still alive for whatever Google is charging me monthly. That's info at blackgirlstruecrime.com. You can also text us directly. There's a text link there in the bio. And don't forget our store if you want merch and all that. So let's get into it today. Speaking of real time, we're gonna talk about a case that we reported on back in episode eight titled Unsolved Celeste Rivas Hernandez. And that's a case of David, the singer songwriter. There's lots of things going on with that case right now, and we've had some big developments since we last spoke. We're going to trial, y'all. We got us a cute little arrest. A warrant to arrest David was granted based off of the evidence that law enforcement presented to a judge. So they have enough evidence to support the fact that this person, David, probably committed this crime. So that's what we're going to be reviewing today. We're going to go through every single little detail of that affidavit and talk about what's really going on. I'm going to let y'all know something right now. David is not getting out of jail. Like, this is some sloppy crime work. And I understand he may not be a career criminal, but damn, David, have you listened to one true crime podcast in your life? You can tell this was done by someone young and naive, or on the other hand, maybe they just didn't care if they got caught. But that is exactly what happened. He got caught. I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt, even though you have your suspicions and you're pretty confident that certain people are going to get arrested for certain crimes. You always have to wait until the facts come out. So we're going to start with some background facts. But first, let's bring some people up to speed if you forgot or are not familiar. On September 8th, 2025, the manager of a tow yard in Los Angeles noted a strong smell in flies around a Tesla that had been impounded three days prior. When LAPD arrived, they determined the vehicle was registered to David Anthony Burke, who we know as David. They observed a black cadaver bag covered in insects and a severely decomposed head and torso. A garbage bag beneath the cadaver bag contained dismembered arms and legs. The ring and pinky finger were also amputated and not found in the Tesla. And we now know why David's name was tattooed on the finger. And on September 16th, they identified her. This is Celeste Rivas Hernandez with dental records. So eight days later, they had dental records to compare. So you know early they were looking at David. So let's back up to the timeline before this investigation started. David and Celeste met in January of 2022. She was just 11 years old at the time. They began a sexual relationship in November of 2023 when she was just 13 years old. David was 18. She was reported missing by her family. Law enforcement contacted David in February of 2024 after his number was found in her phone. During the call, David informed officers that he did not know she was a minor or that her family had reported her missing. He also claimed to have only met her in person once in November of 2023. Police officers went to his home for a welfare check where he made the same claims about not knowing her age, and they showed him a yearbook photo of Celeste in his phone. Even though he denied knowing where she was, she returned home two days later. So this informs two things for us. Number one, she was most likely somewhere in his huge house and eventually went home when the police showed up, putting the pressure on them. And two, David can no longer claim he doesn't know her age because the police let him know, even though it's clear he knew her age well before then. I mean, he had a yearbook photo of her in his phone. It also informs our motive. She thought they had a future and threatened to disclose information about their relationship to end his career and destroy his life. She was also underage. His first studio album was also set to release on April 25th, 2025. So he had a multi-million dollar career in progress and multiple product endorsements. So the digital evidence in this case that we have, after that date, he continued to pursue her. When she went home two days later, her parents took her phone and David drove to Lake Elsinore, where she's from, and paid a junior high school student$1,000 to give Celeste a cell phone that he purchased so they could stay in contact. That year, she continued to spend a significant amount of time with him at his home. She traveled with him and even went to Texas to meet his family. Text messages between them make references to sex, pregnancy, abortion, and plan B. There are also explicit photographs documenting and corroborating their sexual relationships. On April 23rd, likely the date of her death, all her cellular activity ceased. The night prior, both Celeste and David had an argument in text, and Celeste was not happy and jealous even that David was seeing other women. At approximately 8 40 p.m., the night she was killed, he sent an Uber from her home and it dropped her off at his home at approximately 10 p.m. About 20 minutes later, he was texting her and inquiring where she was, which investigators believe was a premeditated ruse to cover up the murder because she was already dead at that time. At 11:30 p.m. the same night, he continued to text and call the victim's phone asking where she was as he was driving away from his home, going towards Santa Barbara in an attempt to dispose of her property, destroy evidence, and create an alibi. He returned home the next morning, April 24th, and did a radio interview release for his album dropping that week. He sent two more texts to Celeste's phone and after that date never attempted to contact her again. That is cold. Someone you have a physical and emotional relationship with and you're not even looking for her. But y'all, it gets worse. On April 24th, the day after we believe Celeste was killed, he ordered a shovel from Home Depot that was delivered on Postmates. On May 1st, he had two chainsaws delivered by Amazon. On May 5th, Amazon also delivered the body bag, a blue inflatable pool, and heavy-duty laundry bags under a fake name Victoria Mendez. On May 8th and May 31st, he returned to the same remote area in Santa Barbara where her identification was discovered. And on July 7th, he ordered a burn cage from Amazon to further incinerate evidence. He continued to lie to the family and law enforcement about her whereabouts, knowing that she was dead. And while this evidence can be circumstantial, like all the things that he ordered, a good example of how circumstantial evidence works is if somebody tells you it snowed outside and you walk outside and there's snow on the ground, even though you didn't actually see the snowfall, there's enough evidence to prove that it snowed. If the defense tries to argue that the evidence is circumstantial in court, we still have a substantial amount of physical evidence that aligns with the theory of him being the murderer. Ladies and gentlemen, there is snow on the ground. So let's run through this physical evidence real quick. Soon after she arrived at his home, he stabbed her multiple times and he obviously didn't call 911 or take her to the hospital to save her. So he can't even argue here that he snapped and then realized what he had done or self-defense. Investigators say that David used the blue inflatable pool that he ordered to contain the mess and keep her blood from spilling on his garage floor. He also used the chainsaw and other tools to cut off her limbs. These small blue fragments were embedded in her remains and are a physical match with the pool he purchased. It contained multiple linear cuts and biological samples consistent with blood were collected around the garage that matched the victim. So we got DNA. He put her body parts in the bags he purchased and left her in the front trunk for weeks or even months. He lied to friends and business associates and really anybody who came around and noticed the strong smell of decay in and around his home and vehicle. So you know we got witnesses we don't even know about yet. In July, he parked the Tesla around the corner from his residence and was caught on surveillance camera doing so. So this is really the holy grail of evidence, folks. When this goes to trial, well, let me not say that. If this goes to trial, because I don't even know what the defense will argue at this point. I would not be surprised if you plead guilty because there's just so much evidence in this case, and I'm interested to see what they'll even argue. I guess they can always say, you know, for the physical evidence, the DNA being in his home, they had a relationship, so her DNA could be all over that home. But also the biological samples that they found were noted to be blood. So I don't even know how you would explain that. Additionally, investigators just don't play all their cards. You know, there's a lot of things that will come out in court. We don't see everything that they have. So if there is a trial, maybe it will come out at the trial. I'm sure there are some witnesses, and just based on how sloppy this crime was, I think there's like one person he told. Like, I know he asked somebody for help. Also, he gave a kid a thousand dollars to give her the phone, and his friends and business associates noted the smell. So those are all witnesses, y'all. I'm gonna be honest, if I ever found myself in an unsavory position, such as this one with David, I got at least a good strong three to five people that I could be like, oh, I need you to help me with this body. They may or may not help me, but they definitely not gonna go to the police. He probably asked the AI internet, somebody had to get rid of her body. So I'm sure more of this information will come out, but for right now, we just know what it is, and that's that they had enough evidence to arrest him while the investigation is ongoing. I think they have an airtight case with just a little information that we know because this was just done so sloppy. But that's where we're at with this case, y'all. I'm gonna check back in with y'all in a week or two. Don't forget to email us and text us, let us know what you want to hear. Y'all jump.