Law&Crime Sidebar - 5 Chilling Updates in Dismembered Teen Found in D4vd’s Tesla Case

Episode Date: September 26, 2025

The investigation into the strange death of a teenage girl found in a car registered to singer D4vd continues. With no suspect or person of interest, and the musician having moved out of a raided property, we delve into what's likely going on behind-the-scenes. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber and criminal defense attorney Will Korman discuss the latest on Celeste Rivas Hernandez's death, the ongoing investigation, and the questions surrounding D4vd's involvement.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Get 24/7 Protection with Medical Guardian Today — 75% Off the MGMini With Code Sidebar75 https://medicalguardian.com/sidebar75HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. The investigation into the strange death of a teenage girl whose body was found in a car registered to singer David, it continues. And this comes as the musician just moved out of a property that was raided by police. The young girl's remains were returned to her family. and with still no suspect, no person of interest, we ask what exactly is going on right now. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Okay, it's time to talk about the latest in the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez,

the teenage girl who was reportedly found dead in the trunk of a 2023 Tesla in a Los Angeles Hollywood towyard, a car that was registered to 20-year-old musician David, D4VD, real name David Anthony Burke. By the way, we had a typo in our last episode. We said a cyber truck. That was our mistake. It was actually a Tesla. By the way, if you don't know, D4VD, David, is a very big deal, okay? Aside from millions and millions of followers online, this is a performer who signed a record deal when he was what, 17 years old. He was reportedly paid a $3 million advance with a potential $6 million pay day in all. He's been on the Billboard Hot 100. He's open for SZA. He sat front row at a Paris runway show. He has billions of streams on Spotify. He really blew up on social media. That's how he really became famous. But you put

that to the side, what do we know right now? We know that Celeste Badi was found September 8th, that this was a day after she reportedly would have turned 15 years old. While a cause of death has not been officially released by the LA County Medical Examiner's Office at the time in this recording, it has been reported that her remains were released back to her family. And, And talking about her remains, reports say that her body was apparently mutilated. And we know that she was found severely decomposed left inside of this plastic bag in the car, which raises questions about how long she was in that state. It's also not entirely clear when she died.

But it's awful. It's awful. And according to KTLA, the medical examiner has stated the cause and manner of death have been deferred, which means the deputy medical examiner completed an examination, but a cause of death has not been determined. the deputy medical examiner is requesting additional testing and or studies in order to make a determination. Due to the ongoing death investigation, the county of Los Angeles Department, a medical examiner cannot disclose what testing and or studies were requested. Deferred cases can take a few months before a cause of death is determined. And what is so chilling is the lack of answers. There have been no arrests as this investigation is reportedly being headed up by the

robbery homicide division with the Los Angeles Police Department. We know that her body was found in this Tesla after there were those at the yard who smelled a really bad foul odor coming from the car after it was impounded. It was actually towed after it was abandoned for about five days in the Hollywood Hills. It was near a rental home where David was staying at. I mentioned there's no arrest. And by all accounts, David has not been listed as a suspect. He has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing. Reporting indicates he has been cooperative. in fact, no suspect or person of interest has been listed. He was on tour, by the way, across the country. He was about to go to Europe for some tour dates, but that has been canceled

after Celeste's body was found. And here's something significant, too. It has been reported that David has moved out of that multi-million dollar four-bedroom Hollywood Hills home that he was renting. The New York Post says, by the way, for $20,000 a month that he broke his lease. And this comes after police had searched that home on September 17th. NBC reporting that law enforcement sources say police were looking for various things, including digital devices that may contain material potentially linking Celeste to the property. TMZ reporting that LAPD detectives left with a computer and several evidence bags, an LAPD spokesperson telling people several items of evidence were recovered and will be analyzed

by detectives in the coming days. Investigators are following up on several leads. E-News reporting that law enforcement sources with knowledge of this case, in investigation say that electronics and computers were removed. TMZ also reporting that they were looking for blood. More specifically, TMZ's Charles Latibodier told Ashley Banfield on News Nation, quote, they were checking drains to see if there's any blood evidence or blood or tissue that was in the drains there. So they did a scouring of this house looking for any evidence. Now, here on Sidebar, we talk a lot about emergencies, but you know what we don't talk about

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So reporting indicates that Celeste had been missing since last year, having grown up in Lake Elsinore, California. And if we assume that is where she disappeared from, then that is about 70 to 75 miles away from where her remains were found in that car. She had been reported missing at least three times last year with the New York Post reporting she was last reported missing by her family in April of 2024. She apparently ran away two other times per TMZ. And then she disappears. She was in the seventh grade. She was a child. But again, not clear what she was doing before her death or what exactly her connection was to David. See, that part's interesting. In terms of connection to David, that's strange. See, you have this former teacher at apparently Celeste's former

school, Lakeland Village School, who told TMZ that she had met David on social media and believed that she ran away to Hollywood to be with the singer, but that police found her and sent her back. He apparently corroborated that he knows her by showing a picture of himself with her and said that she had been missing since he had been teaching her, that she was frequently not in class, but really didn't know much about a private life. Those online believe that David and Celeste may have had a romantic relationship of some kind, but again, nothing has been officially confirmed by authorities or either Celeste family or the singer's camp.

However, on yesterday's TMZ Live, Harvey Levin said, we've spoken to people in the music business who've partied with David, hung out with David, and there seems to be a consensus that people believe that David and Celeste were boyfriend and girlfriend. TMZ's Charlie Neff commented that people in the industry believed Celeste was actually 19 years old, saying when the news came out that she was a 14-year-old child, they could not believe that because she also presented herself very maturely. They didn't really question it because of the places she was seen at.

There have been reports that there is a leaked David's song that potentially mentions Celeste, that there is a video of the two of them live streaming together months before she disappeared in 2024. And I will say people are looking into his past songs and performances for any clues. Like, for example, he brought a casket on stage during shows. And in his single romantic homicide from back in 2022, he said, I killed you and I didn't even regret it. Now, in a GoFundMe that has been set up on behalf of the Rivas Hernandez family, it says, as many of you know, Celeste Rivas Hernandez has been identified as the body found last week. She was a beloved daughter, sister, cousin, and friend.

Her family is heartbroken and devastated by this tragic loss. Any funds you're able to donate are greatly appreciated. Okay, so let me bring on criminal defense attorney William Corman, who is with us here in studio. Good to see you. A lot of people excited for you to come in. Everybody wants to meet you. You're a big fan favorite. Are you surprised there is no arrest?

Are you surprised that there has been no identified suspect, no identified person of interest by authorities? And what does it tell you that we're at that point? I think it's very early still. I think that this is a complicated case. I think that there's a lot of information that needs. needs to be sussed out first by the investigators, by the crime scene analysts, and the like. And I think it's simply too early for there to be an arrest.

I think an arrest right now would be premature, and that would then be something that defense counsel would jump on. There wasn't enough information to arrest. There wasn't enough probable cause to arrest at the time that they did. But I think that everyone needs to be patient. I'm sure an arrest will be forthcoming.

Can you explain what the disadvantage would be for law enforcement and for prosecutors, for essentially making that announcement before they're ready to take some sort of action? What would be the problem? Sure. So in order for an arrest to take place there, it needs to be probable cause for the arrest to happen. And I just don't think that they're there yet.

If they arrest somebody too soon, then their lawyer can go into court and argue that there wasn't probable cause for arrest and try to get the case thrown out. And to be clear, once again, I said it before, I'll say it again. David has not been identified as a suspect. He has not been implicated officially in any wrongdoing. If he has not been arrested, if he's not been identified as a suspect, is it possible right now that authorities and prosecutors are. are thinking, he may not be connected to this. He may not be responsible for Celeste's death, or they might be looking at alternatives there,

or they may be trying to see if he has a connection here. I mean, what should we be taken away from that? I don't think we should take anything away yet. I think what we should take away is that this is a messy, messy crime scene with a lot of unknowns, and I don't think that if I were David, I wouldn't be resting easy by any stretch of the imagination, but if I were the public, I wouldn't be clamoring for them to hurry up and do something.

I think these things takes time. What would you advise him if you were representing him right now? Not to say anything and not to do anything. What does that mean? Because right now he canceled the rest of his tours. He broke the lease, apparently, moved out of that rental property that was searched. Those are significant actions. That says something.

If I were as attorney, what I would advise him to do is lay low, do nothing. Don't obstruct the investigation, but we're under no obligation. to cooperate with it either and just let your lawyers do what they need to do in order to get from point A to point B. What do they need to do? Remember, I think it's interesting when we talk about a high profile celebrity case and what might be happening with lawyers. We covered the Ditty case. Extensively, you covered it with us as well. His lawyers, before he was officially arrested and indicted, they were in constant communication with prosecutors. At least they tried to, you know, when it came to what he was doing, his movements, surrendering his passport. Is there a communication

happening between his attorneys and authorities, and what does that communication look like? I would imagine there's some communication, and what it really is is you're informing the prosecutors of where your client is, your client's availability. What you don't want is for them to come into your client's house in the middle of the night and arrest them. In a situation like this, I reach out to prosecutors where I have a client who's a suspect. I say, look, you know me, let us know where you need us to be. We will turn ourselves in at any moment rather than you coming to my client's house or my client's place of business, 10 officers deep in taking down the door. Let's cooperate with you. You know what we're going to do. We're going to turn ourselves

in if and when it gets to that stage of the game. If there is some sort of action in this case, what will it look like and what can we expect? I imagine that the first thing that would happen is there would be an arrest of David. I'm imagining. Or someone else. Or excuse me, or someone else, right? Someone will be arrested in this case, I imagine. And if it is somebody like David, who attorneys have already been in touch with the prosecution, they'll most likely arrange a time for him to turn himself in. If it's someone else, someone random off the street, someone whose name we don't even know, that person could obviously just be arrested at the spur of the moment. Isn't there surveillance cameras of someone depositing a body into the car? Or they look

to see how the car got there who was driving it. Maybe they don't have all those answers. You would think in the Hollywood Hills there would be some sort of video evidence to document something about that car, no? I'm sure that there probably is, but again, I caution some patience here because what the last thing that the folks in L.A. want to do, L.A. County is a strange place. California sees high-profile trials all the time. They tend to go a little sideways. They're certainly full of surprises and unexpected details. I think they really want to have all their ducks in a row before they pull the trigger. Why no cause of death? Why has no cause of death been released? I mentioned

before that there needs to be additional testing, but the reports indicate the LA County Medical Examiner's Office won't even say what that testing is. I guess something about these remains are not clear-cut. They need to do additional testing, but like, why not even say what that testing is? I don't think they want to show their cards yet. For example, and this is just a hypothetical, what if she was pregnant? What if the testing has to do with DNA testing, and they're hoping that, or they try to find out who the father is of the unborn child? That testing take some time, and that's certainly not something they want to show their hand on right away. Drug testing, things along those lines. Forensic testing does take time. When do you think

we can get an update there? I don't know. I think that's a tough question to answer. It's something everybody wants, but again, I don't think they're in any rush. If it's David, everyone knows who he is and where he is. I don't think there's a concern that he's going to abscond. I think they're going to take their time because they want to get it right. Is it unusual to you that we don't have a cause of death right now that's been released, or is that standard practice? I think in a case like this where it isn't something that's blatantly obvious, it's relatively standard practice. Again, they're not going to show all their cards in the beginning. Do you think there's going to be trouble determining time of death, which can be very important

for prosecutors as well? I think that time of death is going to be tricky in this particular situation, especially because as far as we know, the body seems to have been there for a significant period of time. I think cause of death is something that's going to be easier to figure out than time of death. If he was on tour when this body was found, does that hurt the prosecution's case? When it was found or when it was killed? When the person was killed, right? That's a good point. I mean, when the body was found and he was on tour, leaving a body in a car in a public area that's going to be towed. I've talked about this before. It's a couple of things. One, right, it could be framing. It could

be just sloppy or there was a plan to do something else, but the car got towed before you could do something. Am I crazy to think about these alternatives? Or panicking. Panicking? Or, you know, a third party was involved to get rid of the car and they took, they panicked or they got rid of it at their first opportunity. You know, I think that there will be more information forthcoming without a doubt. A cause of death will be forthcoming. I think we just need to wait and see what that testing is. You think it was wise for him to move out of the property? Do you think he consulted with his lawyers before doing that? I think that it probably made sense for him to move out of the property for a few reasons. If they were

going to execute search warrants on the property, I wouldn't want my client there at the time if my client has the ability to vacate the property. The last thing he needs is for the media to be following cameras through, like in Diddy, and have people there while search warrants being executed. What do you think is going on with the materials that were reportedly obtained from the home? There's been reporting about computers and electronics, maybe trying to establish whether or not Celeste had a connection to that property. What are they looking for? So the digital forensic analysts are going through all those materials with a fine-tooth comb.

They're seeing what the lines of communication were, if any, between Celeste and David, where their emails, were their text messages, were their Instagram photos, whatever there was that they can use to connect those folks together and create a timeline for the prosecution. You heard before the TMZ reported they might be looking for blood as well. Would that be making sense to you? Of course. Yeah. Of course.

And then what does that testing look like? So it depends on where they're looking. I mean, if they're going through a home, they're doing a forensic testing. They're doing almost like we see in the movies. You know, they're getting down on their hands and knees. They're taking swabs from carpets. They're taking swabs from furniture. They're doing exhaustive testing of the materials themselves to see what they can find.

They're pulling up drains for hair. They're examining bathtub drains for chemicals that could be used to dissolve bodies. It's all gruesome, but that's what they're doing. Do you think prosecutors are working hand in hand with law enforcement in terms of obtaining this evidence and conducting this investigation? There's always an interesting relationship between prosecutors and the investigators themselves. Different jurisdictions handle it differently. Oftentimes, prosecutors assist law enforcement in writing search warrants to make sure that the

search warrants are relatively watertight because the last thing you want is a defense attorney to come in and challenge the grounds of the search or challenge the search warrant and perhaps get important evidence thrown out. So it's not unusual for prosecutors to assist investigators in drafting and reviewing those search warrants. Do they assist also with interviewing witnesses, potential suspects, anything like that? They can, I think more often than not the interviews are conducted by actual investigators themselves rather than the prosecutors who subsequently be handling the case. That's interesting. And we don't have a definitive connection here between David and Celeste. There's rumors online I talked about. There's what TMZ has reported

about it. Is it unusual that law enforcement haven't officially come out and announced whatever connection there is between the two? And by the way, I wonder how much they might be trying to get information from family, from friends, from people online, from tips, which can get complicated when you're dealing with a celebrity like this. Sure. I mean, the last thing I want to do is a rush to judgment because that's what the defense attorney is going to stand up and say during his or her opening statement and then again at their closing argument. They're going to say, this was a rush to judgment. Before they had all the facts lined up, they already pointed his finger at this particular suspect, be it David or somebody else.

So it's not surprising that it's going slow. I think it has to go slow. And it's certainly not surprising they're not talking about any connection between these two. Because, again, if David didn't do it, you don't want to tar and feather the individual with saying that he's a highly regarded suspect in a particular case. And you also have to think about who would have had access to the car if it wasn't David. Real quick, are they doing a deep dive into Celeste's life? and how can they track her movements and her actions from when she went missing in 2024?

How difficult is that? What do you think is going on there? So I'm sure they're interviewing family. I'm sure they're interviewing friends. And I'm sure they're doing a very deep dive on her sort of digital footprint, as it were, her phones, her social media pages, all those other things to try to establish a timeline of who she was talking to, when she was talking to, when those communications stopped. And her remains being released back to her family now. Is that significant? It means that they're done with whatever testing is going to be done on those remains. So whatever testing is going to take place, has taken place, or, and not to be graphic,

they've taken whatever samples they need in order to test in the future. William Corman, thank you so much. Always pleasure. I really appreciate it. Thanks. That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts.

You follow me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series, add free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.