Law&Crime Sidebar - D4vd Caught Partying Hours After Teen Was Killed: PI

Episode Date: April 29, 2026

Hours after allegedly brutally killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, singer D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, was allegedly spotted partying. Private investigator Steve Fischer joins Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber to reveal the shocking timeline prosecutors allege, including the release party held in D4vd's honor just hours after the killing.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Go to http://www.gamingadvocates.com to start your free, confidential case evaluation. HOST: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/lawandcrimeTwitter: 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.

So many updates in the David case. First, he's now being accused of partying after allegedly brutally killing a 14-year-old girl. We've learned he wants to look more presentable in court. Fortnite has made a big decision about the singer's presence in the video game. So a lot of updates in this case since we last covered this shocking story. We want to get into it right now with Steve Fisher, the private investigator, who has been on top of this case from the very beginning. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime.

I'm Jesse Weber. Okay, before we go any further, I have a law and crime legal alert. I have to tell you about Roblox. Roblox is under fire for allegedly not taking adequate safety measures to protect children on its platform. That's right. The popular virtual universe has millions of users who are minors, and yet players can potentially customize their avatars to hide their age and gender. This is a feature that is also possibly available to predators with bad intentions. Look, you might not even realize the dangers that Roblox can pose for your child.

But look, if your child was sexually abused or assaults, or groomed by somebody they met on Roblox, you may qualify for potential compensation. Children, they may not know better, but Roblox arguably should, and our legal sponsors are seeking justice for families affected by this alleged gross negligence. Visit GamingAdvocates.com to start your free confidential case evaluation. All right, so we have more alleged details in the David case, as there was a court hearing today. We're waiting for another major court hearing this week, the preliminary hearing, which we'll talk more about.

But where are we? So David is currently locked up on charges. First degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Revis Hernandez, filed by the LADA's office last week. We know that they claim that Celeste decomposed and dismembered body was found September 8th, 2025, in the trunk of a car allegedly registered to David, real name David Anthony Burke, that this was out in L.A. in the Hollywood Hills.

also facing special circumstances allegations of lying in weight, killing for financial gain, killing of a witness, using a sharp instrument with respect, again, to the murder charge. And this would carry heavier penalties like life in prison without parole, the death penalty, even though there's a moratorium on executions in California. And we learned from last week the autopsy report. The autopsy report was released, citing that Celeste official cause of death was multiple penetrating injuries, the manner of death homicide. We did a whole sidebar with Forensics Examiner, Dr. Mary Jabelic, if you want to check it out, you can see it. It's on Law and Crimes YouTube page. We also put the full autopsy report on our app, Law and Crime Plus,

as well, if you want to watch it, if you want to see it. And now today there's a hearing. And this is described as a status conference, so kind of like a check-in before the scheduled preliminary hearing this Friday. We had a reporter in the courtroom. We're going to break down a little bit later on what happened today, what you need to know. But going back to Friday. If that date sticks for the preliminary hearing and it doesn't change, that's going to be big. Because by law, the prosecution has to present enough evidence to support the charges. It's a probable cause standard. It's a lower standard. It's a low bar. You're not trying to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, but you have to say there's sufficient evidence to support the charges.

And look, this is open. The defense can challenge the evidence. It's different than a grand jury, right? A grand jury secret. It's one-sided. We learned last week that there were, what, three grand juries. evidence in this case, but no indictment was returned. Interesting. Again, as I spoke about with the L.A, Nathan Hockman, this could be investigative grand juries that examine evidence, but not necessarily asked to vote on an indictment, maybe. But aside from that, now we have updates in this case that we need to address since the last time we covered it. So David's physical appearance, a timeline laid out, accusations of partying after Celeste's death, changes to his relationship with the video game Fortnite? Okay, so for all that, I want to bring on private

investigator Steve Fisher, who has been on the ground in L.A. looking into this case four months. Steve, thank you so much for taking the time, as always. First, I want to talk about, you know, his court appearance and his physical appearance. I thought it was interesting these requests that were made from his defense counsel, seemingly from him. What did you learn about what David requested regarding his physical appearance in court? Well, they found two motions. The one, they filed a motion. for him to wear civilian clothing. Specifically, they said it would be pants and a button-down shirt. That was denied.

So he will be in a prison jumpsuit unless something changes. And then he turns out another motion for him to get a haircut by the L.A. Sheriff's Department before the hearing Friday. And that was granted. That was approved. That was granted. What I found interesting is that those are the two motions they filed. There was no motions to unseal the 54 search warrants.

And I want to explore that for a second about why they did that. Before I begin at that, just going back to his physical appearance, I'll just say, look, it's not unusual for criminal defendants or particularly celebrities who want to look a certain way in court, particularly if there's photographs, if there's video. But why do you think he wanted this? I mean, you've been studying him, investigating him for months. Is David somebody who cares about his appearance overall? One thing I've always noticed, and especially like in the camera roll pictures we have for him, he wore the same things for days in a row. He didn't seem like a really hygienic guy, I guess you could say. And it's funny that he wants it now, especially since this is not televised.

Cameras aren't allowed in the courtroom because of the child imagery, specifically, it won't be going forward. So it's really interesting because all there's going to be as a sketch artist. I think he's a narcissist. I think he wants to keep his persona for the people that do show up in the courtroom. I don't know. Maybe it's being driven by his attorneys, but I don't think so. I think this is him. Let me go back to the other part that you mentioned.

So you note that his team didn't. didn't file motions to unseal all of these search warrants in this case. Talk to us about how many they are and what you know about that. Yes, I went yesterday and I found out there's 50, I think there's 54 sealed, 55, including one that's unsealed already, which was the one for the vehicle. So actually at the last two court hearings, Beth Silverman, the prosecutor, specifically said that if we're going to do this prelim this quick, We're willing to work with them to ex-to-unceal everything that's under seal.

So they have this information for the preliminary, which she said specifically mentioned, but specifically mentioned the search warrants and the grand jury transcripts. And that's when she disclosed there was three separate grand juries in the process that has to be done to unseal those transcripts. The judge said, hey, I'm on board. I agree to unseal everything. I just need to motion. No motion has been filed, though.

They filed the motions for the physical appearance, the hair, and the post. Nothing that at least has a that's on the docket to unseal those things. A couple of made of questions here. Why wouldn't they? Because there's been a question about whether or not they're going to delay the preliminary hearing, whether it's actually going to happen Friday. Remember, they've kind of put the prosecution's feet to the fire. We want 10 days.

We want this preliminary hearing. We want to see what you have. I wonder if they're going to have difficulty asking for a delay, if they do. do by and not even having, according to you, made a motion to try to unseal them. Yeah. So I have a feeling that, you know, what you're saying is exactly. I think they're probably at the last second going to say, we don't even, Your Honor, we don't have the discovery. It's in, I think there's going to be some pushback because at that last hearing, the judge said specifically that she was willing to make accommodations because, and I appreciate it. And I appreciate it.

this from her. This is a high profile trial. And for instance, she said that she does not do afternoon hours. She was making an exception for today, for the hearing that will happen today, which is where I think this will find out for sure, not if it is going forward, but that this was not normal procedure, but she was doing it anyhow. So now if they were to come in on the first and say, you know, we just didn't get the information. So how can we go forward? Because they really didn't want the information right now. I think they're going to get called out on that, I think. I would imagine today will be the day that if I had a guess,

I think it's going to get continued. Let me ask you this, 54, 55 search warrants. Is that unusual? I mean, that seems like a lot. And why, how specific do you think each one was? What do you think they were for? Well, you definitely are going to have, you know, Apple with ICloud and his individual devices. I can tell you that he does have a lot of actual devices, a lot of phones.

And then you're going to have Google and stuff like that. But there was a search warrant issued as late as April 20th, so after his arrest. And there was another one that looks like it falls on like the fifth or the sixth of April. So they were issuing search warrants right up. I think there was a total of seven that I saw that were issued in 2026. Do you think that's something he had on him at the time of the arrest or something at the property where he was arrested? I think they probably had some sort of, yeah, I think that when they arrested him, they cataloged, you know, what was there. And then they got a warrant.

I mean, kind of like they did with the car originally. They went there. They verified there was a smell in the car. They immediately got a search warrant to enter the car. Probably the same thing. And Beth alluded to that, actually, she said that she wouldn't know what the, she didn't know at the time what the, if there was going to be a search warrant. significance from those returns or not. Let me ask you this.

Do you think that those warrants also include materials possessed by other individuals that are not David? Certainly, I definitely think there's going to be at least cloud type of data, other Facebook account or Instagram accounts, you know, meta, let's call it. And, you know, ICloud, they specifically leaned in the I cloud a lot. They said that there was over 10 terabytes of data from one Eclad account. So which, listen, I can kind of see, you guys are musicians, he's probably got a ton of music, ton of video, raw video and everything back up there, but it's still a massive account.

I know I've heard reports of them saying 10 terabytes of child porn. I don't think that's the case. I think it's a 10 terabyte account. So yes, I think others are wrapped up in this. I think all the his inner circle people have had all their, um, uh, uh, accounts subject to search warrant, probably their social media accounts and including his management. I'm glad you mentioned, I mean, this is something we talked about previously. Prosecutors say he was in possession of child pornography.

We don't know if it was of allegedly of Celeste or someone else, but that was interesting. It made me wonder if there could be federal charges on the horizon for him. Real quick, if they unseal these search warrants, you, me, everyone's going to be able to see them. We'll be able to see who they were served upon and we'll be able to see what the return was. Not that, not saying the data, but the return files. by the police saying, we recovered, you know, this account, data from this account, where we'll see on a general basis. And we'll see who it was served upon what they were looking for.

And what the probable cause was, which is going to be the real tell in this thing, what the probable cause was to get the search warrant. So back to the preliminary hearing, and we'll talk about it a little bit later on because at the time of this recording, we haven't had the hearing yet later today. Do you think this preliminary hearing is actually going to happen on Friday? and if it does, how much of the prosecution's case is going to be revealed and how much evidence are they going to present of what they have against David? Well, the only, they don't have, they just have to show enough that they have probable cause.

However, I think because of the nature of the case and everything, and because some of the scrutiny that LAPD and the DA's office came under, I think that they're going to overshoot that a little bit. I think they're going to say, we've got a case here. Look, what we have. And this is just what we're showing you for probable cause. whether it happens or not. I have a feeling it probably is not.

The fact that they have not filed, especially for those grand jury transcripts, because listen, they need to know, meaning the defense, needs to know what Neil Langston and Rob Morganrath said. They have to have that information. They can't go to a pretrial without that. They have not filed anything to get those unsealed.

And the judge told them a couple times, she's willing to unseal it. They just need a motion. The fact that they didn't do that immediately at the courthouse, I think that they're talking a little different than the real strategy that they're going to actually explore. Steve, something else that I thought was significant is if the DA is claiming that David killed Celeste to prevent her from coming forward and exposing his alleged illegal behavior, that he did it to protect his career. I thought it was very interesting the following, because according to Rolling Stone, Interscope records cut ties with him before his arrest.

UMG, so Universal Music Group, is working to get their client's songs that they collaborated on with David removed from streaming platforms. according to People magazine, Fortnite, is going to refund the players who made David-related purchases in the game. They released a statement saying, we hear the concerns. We have a bunch of changes. We're rolling out over time. The first one will be available on Tuesday, April 28th, when anyone who purchased one of these items will be able to get an immediate self-service refund. And right now, players who request refunds for David Cosmetics via player support can be refunded. And by the way, David's song locked and loaded was apparently the game's first.

official theme song back in 2025. This is per reporting from Houston Chronicle. And to give everybody an idea, by the way, of why this is significant also, and I'm going to go back to Steve on this, David reportedly talked about how much this game meant to him. There was this variety interview where he said, quote, Fortnite has been such a big part of my life and it's what led me to make music in the first place. Being able to create the official anthem for Fortnite feels like a true full circle moment. Fortnite gave me a space to be creative and connect with people all over the world. And that same energy is what I wanted to put into this track. It's more than a song. It's me giving back to something that shaped my story as an artist. And even now, playing Fortnite is still my true passion. So I find

this very relevant for the prosecution's case, Steve. If they're trying to say he tried to silence a witness to prevent his career from being torpedoed, look what just happened after his arrest. They might be able to use this potentially. And listen, I think if it goes to trial, you're going to see that the way he met Celeste was through Fortnite. And that's significant. And listen, good on Fortnite. They didn't have to, they didn't do this after a bunch of pushback. They did this, you know, one person requested a refund.

And they immediately processed it. And this started the ball rolling. And good for them, you know. Yeah, he hasn't been proven guilty yet. I know that, but they're a private company. And if there's like, we don't want our name attached to him whatsoever. And we're going to refund people who, you know, good for them. And because, listen,

And Celeste did meet him through Fortnite when she was very, very young. And then it went over to Discord. And so I appreciate they did that. And he did, he used that platform to lure people. And it's, you know, obviously against their terms of service. And they didn't endorse it at all. But I'm glad that they're doing it without being asked to. I want to talk about the timeline.

So you constructed a timeline in this case. And I want to go through some of it. So tell me about what happened. on the day of Celeste alleged killing, and what happened immediately after? You know, it's really wild to kind of see it on paper like this, and I've got to get my analyst credit for putting this timeline together. On the 23rd is the day that the prosecution alleges that she was killed,

and lured over there and then killed. Best Silverman seems to be saying it was the 23rd, because last week... And going over to his house and she never came back. And she also called it the one-year anniversary of her death. last year of the 23rd. So he comes over there, and that is the day that he'd just gotten done with Coachella. He's back. He's kind of on this like rush activity going on, and they announced that the Wither Tour

or Wither album's dropping. And there's going to be a tour. And pre-sale starts. So here comes the money rolling in, right? And obviously, they're alleging that Celeste was threatening to stop that. Now, what I find really interesting is, and I'm not saying anybody else was involved, I'm just saying I find it interesting that this is a period of time, the 23rd win, they announced that. The next day they have a album release party and Wither Tour presale and then ticket sales start.

And then by the 25th, he's playing in New York. His management's in town. His management who leased the house is in town. Don't know where they're staying. And his friends are all around. I put up pictures yesterday of them on the 24th at this party. This would be just hours after he killed her. And he's saying, yeah, in Neo and Asia are in the photos with him.

I don't think he had a lot of downtime by himself coming off of Coachella. And then all these VR events happening. And by the 25th, from the, you know, 2030, he kills her by the 25th. He's in New York. He has a party album release, all this stuff happening. Who is around him? I think that's going to be really key. Yeah.

So this party, you say, is in Culver City, California. you said in your post based on the timeline, I do not believe David was alone for more than brief periods between April 23rd and April 25th. I guess the question is, where do you think Celeste remains were? Where was her body during this time? I don't know.

I mean, they were actively at this minute trying to find that out, really. And listen, I think that there's some nexus to downtown LA. On May 5th, when they alleged that she was unfortunately, you know, or dismembered by him. He said that that happened on May 5th. There's a photo of him that social media posts that we recaptured of him, the Cinque de Mayo type of event downtown at late at night with a food truck.

Physiology of this is that she was killed on the 23rd and 23rd of April and dismembered on May 5th. She had to be refrigerated, most likely, in between. And I don't know if that means it's a warehouse downtown or some sort of facility downtown that he rented or had. or whatever, but I don't believe she was kept at the house. And she wouldn't have been in the state, really, to just remember her to wear, you know, her, she was still wearing clothes and everything. And that would have been, you know, a really tricky situation if she wasn't. So I think something, she think she was stored downtown or somewhere that had refrigeration.

I mean, these allegations are so heinous and so disturbing, but you couple with the idea of him, you know, allegedly partying right afterwards. And didn't he stream? Didn't you say he streamed or was it on the 23rd of the 24th? He, well, he streamed a performance. He did a three-day band lab collaboration in New York City, starting on the 25th, then flew home to Houston and performed there from hometown on the 28th. And they streamed that as well. But he was, listen, you wouldn't, there's no way, you can't look at the pictures of these performances,

except when he starts breaking down and crying, which makes you wonder if that's, as a little performative, but like when he's at this party, he's having the time of his life. I mean, he's on top of the world. It's all about him. His party is the bell to ball, you know. So he doesn't look too bothered. And I sure would like to talk to people like Neo and Asia and his management and say, you know, what was his mindset? What was he talking about?

Were you at the house that night? Because David, when they have these parties, they tend to be after parties at the house. So I go back to something that you wrote in your post. It's difficult to believe that no one knew anything about Celeste. immunity may protect someone legally, but it does not shield them from public perception, especially if information was not brought forward immediately. These photos are from the April 24th Party, 100 thieves, hours after Celeste Revis Hernandez was killed, according to prosecutors.

So you and I talked about this, but I just want you to elaborate on it. You know, I asked DA Nathan Hockman in my interview on Jesse Weber Live on News Nation about whether other people will be charged. And he goes, look, it's an ongoing investigation. If people have more information come forward, he wouldn't confirm. whether or not someone was given a deal or whether or not someone's cooperating. I remember he did say there's cooperating and non-cooperating witnesses potentially in the grand jury. Your thoughts on this.

Again, if we're looking at the timeline, we're looking at what prosecutors alleging, I'm wondering whether or not potential cooperating witnesses and ideas of immunity deals would even come up in a preliminary hearing. Listen, I think two or three people know. And that, you know, that blown about it. I think, I think two of those people, I think Neo and Asia, just my opinion, but as an investigator and, you know, what I've seen, I think they knew things. And imagine that if you're somebody that reluctantly came forward after being, let's say, arrested or whatever, being kind of forced your

hand, like go to jail or tell your story, imagine that you pretty much told the story, but held some back and then find out that there's been a wiretap this whole time going on. And it's like, oh, God, I'm going to get caught up in this. So is Nathan Hawkins saying, yeah, you don't But we can't say nobody's going to be charged. If they were honest, then they kept to their immunity agreement. Now, he didn't say that. But I'm just saying, I'm just reading between the lines, then they're probably okay. But if they lie to us, they're not going to be okay.

And listen, that wiretap could tell a lot, you know. And if you find out that they didn't tell their whole story or they lied a little bit, then you're not covered anymore. Can you elaborate a little bit more on the wiretap, how it works, how they, law enforcement, would it be able to get that? Yeah. So it's done a lot on it can be done on state level, which, was, but it's done a lot of federal level, but they literally tap your phone. So whatever lines that

they apply for, it's under like a super warrant. They're supposed to exhaust all other means first, but then they can actually intercept and listen in on all your phone calls. And they record them. And we don't know how long this wiretap was ongoing for, but I imagine a pretty long time. So they, anything like you said, hey, don't put that in writing, call me, man. You know, it's all going to be recorded. And I think that's going to take about very, very large part of 41 terabytes of data. you think her body was put in that Tesla? After, I think probably on the night he dismembered her on May 5th, if that's the date that happened, or whenever he didn't miss dismemberer, I think she was put in there

probably somewhat in, you know, still in a refrigerated state. And I don't know why he didn't complete, you know, getting rid of her or if it was just a trophy thing or if he did it on purpose. I don't know if we'll ever, ever get the answer to that and understand it. But I think she was put in there shortly after she was dismembered. Again, just have to be clear, right, you said it before. He's innocent and so proven guilty. These are allegations. Why do they believe May 5th is that date of their day? I don't know. I think it has to be witness testimony. Somebody that knew that came forward or they have some really convincing text messages, which would just be really dumb if they did that. But going back to the very beginning in this thing when I was talking to neighbors in that neighborhood, what they told me

and what I put out there at the very beginning was, the Tesla started being parked in different spots around the neighborhood where the rental house was starting in Bay. And, you know, we didn't know any of this information at the time. Now we find out May is the date. And that's when he started moving around. So I think she was in there right after Dismemberment. Steve, I always appreciate you coming on. I know this is not an easy case to talk about. This should be an interesting week.

We will see what happens. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. And we just got word at the time of this recording. The David hearing is over today. The preliminary hearing has been moved now to May 26. There is going to be a status conference on May 12th. We'll see what happens next.

And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. you so much for joining us and as always please subscribe on youtube apple podcast spotify wherever you should get your podcast you can also check us out on nbc's peacock as well if you want to follow me ex-instagram my news nation show jesse weber live monday through friday 11 pm eastern i'll see you next time everybody