D4vd's cellphone contained 'child pornography,' prosecutor in L.A. murder case says
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A cellphone belonging to David Anthony Burke, better known as the singer D4vd, contained “a significant amount of child pornography,” a prosecutor said in court Thursday morning.Los Angeles County Deputy Dist.Atty.
Beth Silverman made the claim during a court proceeding to schedule a preliminary hearing on murder charges in the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.The images were uncovered as part of a broad series of search warrants executed on Burke’s phone and iCloud, Silverman said.
Burke’s attorneys have insisted he is innocent and are demanding a preliminary hearing begin next week, meaning evidence in the closely followed case could become public as soon as May 1.He appeared in court Thursday in an orange jail jumpsuit and walked into court with his hands in his pockets.
A status hearing was set for Wednesday.Burke was arrested by Los Angeles police last week and charged Monday with murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child and corpse mutilation, according to a criminal complaint.He has pleaded not guilty.
The singer allegedly began sexually abusing Hernandez in September 2023, when she was just 13.Burke’s attorneys have said the case cannot stand up to scrutiny and pushed for the immediate preliminary hearing.
Hernandez was reported missing from her family’s Lake Elsinore neighborhood three times in 2024, and she was spotted at some of D4vd’s concerts during that time frame.Prosecutors allege Hernandez was last seen at Burke’s Hollywood Hills residence a year ago, on April 23, 2025.She “threatened to expose his criminal conduct and devastate his musical career,” according to L.A.
County Dist.Atty.
Nathan Hochman, though the prosecutor has not answered questions about whether Hernandez was going to report Burke to police.Burke surged in popularity after one of his tracks was included in the wildly popular video game “Fortnite,” an...