A popular singer-songwriter who goes by the stage name of "D4vd" has been ordered to stand trial for the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. New evidence admitted into court revealed that, at the age of 13, Hernandez became pregnant and had an abortion.

Key Takeaways:

• D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, rose to fame on TikTok.

• He met Hernandez when she was 11 years old and allegedly began grooming her.

• When Hernandez was 13, they allegedly began a sexual relationship; Burke was 18 at the time.

• Hernandez's dismembered, decomposing body was found in Burke's Tesla in 2025. She was just 14 years old.

• New text messages read aloud during a preliminary hearing revealed that Hernandez got pregnant, seemingly more than once, and had at least one abortion, though it is not clear if she was pressured or coerced.

The Backstory:

Burke began his career uploading "Fortnite" montages online, along with original music he created to avoid copyright infringement. His first single, "Romantic Homicide," went viral on TikTok, and eventually landed on the Billboard charts. He was signed to Interscope Records in 2022, and his music continued to go viral on social media; by 2025, he had over three million followers on TikTok.

He began to tour in August of 2025, but by September, the tour was cancelled after Hernandez's body was found in Burke's Tesla. She had been missing for weeks, and her dismembered body had been stuffed into a black trash bag. Hernandez was just 14 years old when she was killed.

An autopsy found she had been stabbed to death, and her body mutilated after her death. Authorities confirmed her body had been decomposing for several weeks, if not longer, by the time it was found; it took so long to find her that Hernandez's 15th birthday had passed.

By November, police officially named Burke a suspect, though he was not arrested until April of 2026.

The Details:

Details about the relationship between Burke and Hernandez were revealed during a preliminary hearing last week. The two first met in 2022, when he was 17, and Hernandez was 11 years old. Documents show they began a sexual relationship when she was 13. They had each other's names tattooed on their left ring fingers, and  "Shhh..." tattooed on their right index fingers.

Testimony during a preliminary hearing last week included text messages between the two. At the conclusion of the hearing, a judge ruled that Burke must stand trial for Hernandez's murder.

The texts dated back to 2022, when Hernandez was 11, indicating she had been groomed for two years before Burke began having sex with her after he was about 18 or 19 years old. It is in these text messages that it was revealed Hernandez became pregnant and had an abortion at least once, though there is some question of whether or not she had multiple abortions.

In November of 2023, Hernandez began discussing the possibility of being pregnant, which is when prosecutors say their sexual relationship had just started. “Currently [manifesting] my period bc I refuse to have kids,” Hernandez wrote, with Burke replying, “Did you miss your date.” He then urged her to track her period, saying, “I just need to make sure ur on top of ur [s***]."

Whether she had an abortion in that instance is not clear. It is known that by January, she was indeed pregnant. Who first suggested an abortion is unclear, although in the days leading up to the appointment, they discussed it frequently.

“Both of us aren’t able to take care of it,” Hernandez texted, with Burke responding, “you’re sm [so much] stronger than me baby lmao” and “I love you.” 

Burke then explained that his mother told him to consider paternity if he ever got a girl pregnant, so he asked, “It is mine right?” Hernandez replied, “Of course it’s yours David.” 

A potential indication that Hernandez may have been pressured appeared in other text messages, with him grilling her about when the appointment was, coaching that “it should take 45,” and then following up with her afterwards. He added that it was like “waiting for test results." When Hernandez became concerned that the abortion had failed, he replied, "nah first baby gone.”

How Hernandez felt about the abortion at the time isn't clear, but by August of 2024, she was feeling serious regret. “Realistically I care abt u. I killed my kid for you,” she texted, adding that she could have chosen to be a mother; Burke replied that doing so would have been acting "selfishly."

“David, I’m going to have to lie to people around me, even my kid, for the rest of my life,” she wrote. “I don’t like talking about it because it gets me really upset, but I’d do anything to have it back.”

At some point, Hernandez also seemed to believe that Burke's promises of marriage and a future together were a manipulation. She texted, "[A]ll we do is have sex and just hang out man I want more than that for myself.”

Hernandez went missing in April of 2025; text messages between the two showed she had threatened to expose their illegal relationship. Prosecutors allege he killed her on April 23, 2025, to keep his ongoing sexual abuse a secret, stabbing her twice in a blue kiddie pool in his garage and leaving her to slowly bleed to death. He then allegedly left her body there for several months before dismembering her with a chainsaw, placing it in black trash bags, and stashing the bags in the trunk of his car.

The Bottom Line:

Abortion is known to be used as a tool by abusers to cover up their crimes. Tragically, this could be what happened to Hernandez before her own young life was senselessly taken by her abuser.