Latest / Best of: Features / Family accuses D4vd's inner circle of enabling abuse of Celeste Rivas Hernandez
Transcript
- 0:05Family accuses D. Forvide's inner circle, of enabling abused of Celeste Rivas
- 0:09Hernandez. This article is being read by
- 0:15an automated voice generated by Everlett. The family of Celeste Rivas Hernandez
- 0:21has sued fingers, D four Vidi and members of his inner circle,
- 0:24alleging he sexually abused the California teenager before stabbing her to death
- 0:29and dismembering her with a power saw. The civil lawsuit alleges he
- 0:32severed two of the fourteen year old's fingers, including one tattooed with
- 0:36his name, and hid her remains in his Tesla for months. D.
- 0:41Four Vied, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, has pleaded not
- 0:44guilty to murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under fourteen and
- 0:48unlawful mutilation of human remains. Celeste's dismembered body was discovered in the
- 0:53Tesla at a Hollywood impound lot on september eighth, twenty twenty five.
- 0:57Days later, police searched the Hollywood Hills mansion where Burke had been
- 1:01staying. The property's owner told S. F. Gate at the time that
- 1:05he did now know Defor V'ede, or that he had been staying
- 1:08at the house. Prosecutors allege Burke killed Celeste inside the mansion that
- 1:13April, days before his debut album's release, because she threatened to expose
- 1:17their relationship and destroy his rising career. Celeste's parents filed the complaint
- 1:23Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, one year after her body
- 1:27was discovered. They seek unspecified compensatory and punitive damages from Burke, his
- 1:32mother, managers and live in security guard, and several companies associated with
- 1:36Burke. The claims include wrongful death, sexual battery, childhood sexual assault, false
- 1:42imprisonment, and human trafficking. The family alleges Burke contacted Celeste online in
- 1:47august twenty twenty two, when she was eleven and he was seventeen.
- 1:51They met the following year and began having sex. When she was
- 1:54thirteen and he was eighteen, the complaint says. Over roughly sixteen months
- 1:59they allegedly exchanged between eight thousand and nine thousand texts. Burke allegedly
- 2:05gave her a secret phone, used false identities, and paid for travel
- 2:09that allowed them to meet without her parents knowledge. According to the
- 2:12lawsuit, Burke acknowledged in messages that he had sex with Celeste. At
- 2:16least six times when she was thirteen. Other messages discussed plan B,
- 2:21pregnancy and an abortion he allegedly pressured her to undergo, the lawsuit
- 2:25says. The suit alleges he also created sexually explicit images of her
- 2:29and continued the relationship after police told him she was a thirteen
- 2:33year old runaway. The lawsuit says Burke's inner circle provided money, housing,
- 2:38transportation, and security that enabled Burke to isolate Celeste. His management company
- 2:44allegedly leased the Oliveville mansion, where Burke lived at the time of
- 2:48the killing and hired a live in guard who transported her. His
- 2:51mother, who worked as his finance director, allegedly controlled company funds. The
- 2:56defendants knew or should have known Celeste was being exploited and failed
- 3:00to protect her, the complaint alleges. The management company and Burke's finance
- 3:05manager previously denied knowing about the relationship, the Los Angeles Times reported.
- 3:11DeForvy first found an audience making music for Fortnite videos. His twenty
- 3:15twenty two single Romantic Homicide went viral on TikTok and has more
- 3:19than one billion Spotify plays, leading to a deal with a major
- 3:22label, an opening slot for Sidji, and his debut album, Withered, released
- 3:27two o days after prosecutors say Celeste was killed. By then the
- 3:31relationship had deteriorated. Celeste accused Burke of seeing other women and said
- 3:35she wanted more from her life. Messages presented at a preliminary hearing
- 3:39in the criminal case showed. On april twenty second, twenty twenty five,
- 3:43she allegedly threatened to expose their relationship, writing, I will end er
- 3:48career and er life. Prosecutors say the threat gave Burke a motive
- 3:52to silence her, as his album and world tour were about to
- 3:55launch. The next evening Celeste asked Burke to send a car to
- 4:00her Lake Elsinore home. An Uber driver delivered her to his house
- 4:03shortly after ten PM, Court Records allege. Gate open. Door unlocked, he
- 4:08texted her. Her phone went silent about twenty minutes later. Prosecutors say
- 4:12Burke stabbed her in the abdomen and chest, piercing her liver and
- 4:15chipping her ribs, and then failed to call nine one one as
- 4:18she bled to death. Prosecutors alleges Burke then spent months trying to
- 4:23hid her body. He allegedly ordered a shovel, two chainsaws, an inflatable
- 4:27pool, body bags, and heavy duty laundry bags, sometimes under false names.
- 4:31Investigators believe he placed Celeste in the pool and used a saw
- 4:35to sever her limbs. Blue plastic fragments consistent with the pool were
- 4:39found in her remains, investigators say. Burke later allegedly ordered a metal
- 4:44burn case, and made several trips to Santa Barbara County, where Celeste's
- 4:48passport card was found. Celeste ring and pinky fingers have never been
- 4:53recovered, according to the complaint. Her ring finger bore A tattoo of
- 4:56David, while a sh tattoo appeared to match one on Burke's hand.
- 5:01The suit alleges Burke packed her remains into two bags, hid them
- 5:04in the Tesla's front trunk, and used air fresheners to attempt to
- 5:08mask the smell. Before leaving on tour in july twenty twenty five,
- 5:12he allegedly abandoned the car near his home. After it was towed,
- 5:16workers at a Hollywood lot reported a foul odor on september eighth.
- 5:20Police found Celeste's dismembered and decomposed body inside. During a five day
- 5:25preliminary hearing in Burke's criminal case, forensic analysts testified that Celeste DNA
- 5:30matched apparent blood recovered from his garage, Tesla, and charging equipment. The
- 5:35defense questioned the handling and testing of evidence and argued prosecutors had
- 5:39not demonstrated malice. A judge nevertheless found probable cause to send Burke
- 5:44to trial and kept him jailed without bail. GoFundMe created on Celeste's
- 5:49family's behalf, called her a beloved daughter, sister, cousin, and friend, and
- 5:53said her relatives were heartbroken and devastated. In a statement released the
- 5:57day before what would have been her sixteenth birthday, the family said
- 6:01the death penalty would be perfect, if Burke is convicted. Los Angeles
- 6:06County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has not announced whether he will push
- 6:10for the death penalty. Burke's lawyers withdrew on august thirty first, and
- 6:15he is now represented by the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office.
- 6:19His new attorney said Burke deserves a defense that carefully examines the
- 6:23evidence. No trial date has been seated. He is due back in
- 6:26court on october nineteenth as he awaits trial for murder, continuous sexual
- 6:30abuse of a child under fourteen and unlawful mutilation of human remains.
- 6:34He has pleaded not guilty.