Bombshell D4vd Hearing: Disturbing Dismemberment Details

Day one of accused child murderer. David's preliminary hearing. Body cam. footage, crime scene photos, the singer. looking bored in court. We are breaking. down everything that happened in that. morning session with a reporter who was. in that courtroom and saw [music] it. all. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by. Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. You know how we talk about on Sidebar. all the dangers in the world? I mean, we. really focus on them. This is something.

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feature lets you submit specific links. that their privacy experts will. personally investigate and remove. They. can't harm you if they can't find you. Use code sidebar at the link below and. get 60% off an annual plan. That's. incogni.com/sidebar. Okay, so here we are. 10 months or so. after the body of 14-year-old Celeste. Davis Hernandez was found in the front. trunk of a Tesla, allegedly registered. to David out in LA, the 21-year-old. singer is now at his preliminary. hearing. Day one of a multi-day hearing.

where the court, the judge, will. determine if there is sufficient. evidence for his criminal case to move. to trial. We're going to cover each day. what happens, condense it all for you so. you don't miss anything. We have a. reporter who's in the courtroom who's. going to lay out everything for us. because here's the issue. We can't see. it. There's no cameras allowed, there's. no audio equipment, but she is our eyes. and our ears. So, let's not forget, David is currently charged with. first-degree murder, continuous sexual. abuse of a child under 14, and lawful. mutilation of human remains, all in.

connection with the death of Celeste. Prosecutors allege that he was in a. sexual relationship with her, and that. he killed her to keep her quiet. And. then he tried to cover it all up and. dismembered her body. He has entered a. not guilty plea, and he is innocent. unless proven guilty. Let's go right. into it. Okay, so a lot to get into. Let. me bring in our eyes and ears. She was. in the courtroom this morning, NBC LA. reporter Julia Dang. Julia, thank you so. much for coming on. I know you have. limited time because you have to jump. back into the courtroom. Uh can you just. set the scene? I mean, who was there?

Um I understand Celeste's family was. there, and then we'll talk about David's. uh appearance. But set the scene if you. can for what was it like in that. courtroom and who was there? >> Jesse, it has been hectic this morning. It's kind of a media circus outside the. courthouse here. As I'm sure you can. imagine, everybody is covering this. This is the biggest development on in. this murder case against David Anthony. Burke so far, the 21-year-old uh known.

as D4 David. David, and yes, that is. correct. Um the victim's parents, Celeste Redas Fernandez, her parents. were actually in the courthouse this. morning. They were sitting in the. courtroom um during the very start of. this preliminary hearing. Uh just three. rows directly in front of. So, I couldn't see their facial. expressions. Um but I I think the way. they were moving. um and and kind of huddling with each.

other as evidence photos were shown to. the courts. Um I think that says it all. We saw some really grizzly evidence this. morning, Jesse, as part of um the. prosecution's. summary of the evidence that they plan. to present if this case ultimately goes. to trial. And just backing up here, that's what this preliminary hearing is. doing. It's an opportunity for the court.

and the judge to decide whether the. prosecution actually has a strong enough. case against David for this to go to. trial. So, we put it home, you know, kind of like a mini trial. It's not. really that. If anything, it's like a. mini bench trial because there's no jury. this time. There's no in-person juries. It is just the judge deciding whether or. not there is probable cause here uh for. this to go to trial. And that is legally.

a much lower threshold uh than having to. prove beyond a reasonable doubt that. David did in fact commit these crimes. And as we've been reporting, you know, it's not just forced to bring mother. There are two additional felonies he's. been charged with here um including the. continuous sexual abuse on that child. Teenager molest and mutilation of. of a mate. >> Let me ask you about David real quick.

He's brought into the courtroom. I. understand there was a whole back and. forth about whether or not he should be. shackled. There's no jury there, so it's. not like seeing him in handcuffs or. prison garb would necessarily prejudice. a jury. Um but I know there was that. issue and then I was reading your notes. and you had one note that really stuck. out to me where you said he looked bored. in court. >> He did. So, I couldn't see the victim's. parents um because they were sitting.

right in front of me, but I couldn't see. David. And we've talked about his demeanor in. the courtroom um during court. proceedings before. We've talked about. how, you know, he's kind of glum. You. know, he's smiled at the attorneys and. the judge. Um he speaks right, very. clearly, very confidently. He spoke this. morning. He said, "Yes, your honor." Uh. after she was done reviewing rules with. him for this preliminary hearing. But.

yeah, there was a moment uh during the. back and forth, during the initial cross. examination of witnesses, where he was. kind of resting his face between his. hands and yes, he looks a little bit. bored. Just Uh but what really caught my. attention was how during the. presentation of these evidentiary. photos, um that before today, we've only. seen descriptions. We hadn't seen these photos yet, um as.

reporters covering this case, but we. actually saw the victim's remains. I I don't think I have the words. to accurately describe the the energy in. the courtroom. um when the prosecution presented those. photos. There There was an intake of. breath and and the sounds that we were. hearing before, which was a lot of. typing, you know, a lot of shuffling, everybody taking notes,

it it got a little bit silence for a. moment there. Because we could actually see head and. torso in an unzipped cadaver bag in a. black trash. of a tarp. You could see arms and legs chopped up. In a second bag, it was like a black. garbage bag. uh with blue handles. And during all of. this passage, David was just sitting. there staring at the screen, staring at.

these photos, blinking. There was no reaction, no visible. reactions on the defendant's. [clears throat]. face, until This struck me, too. Until the prosecution pulled up a. side-by-side. It was two photos and they. showed the victim's two hands. Left. hand, as we know, missing two fingers, ring finger and the pinky finger. And. then the right hand, and [screaming] the. right index finger was pulled a little.

bit like that with a tattoo on it. that read S H [screaming] H. When that photo was pulled up, you could. see David. leaning in. Um still staring at the photos. Um but beyond that, you know, not much. emotion on his face during most of the. proceedings today. >> And that's a really, really chilling. description. It also goes to the how. they were able to identify the remains. Before we go back to the beginning of. this hearing cuz I think something. important happened regarding body camera.

and I'll get to that. What was Celeste's family's reaction to. seeing these photos? To seeing these. photos of Celeste's dismembered body? >> I don't know, Jesse, if I could put. myself. in their shoes. I can tell you what I. noticed um sitting three rows directly. behind them in that courtroom, looking. at the same. photos. I could see both of them, mother. and father,

bowing their heads. I could see them. scooting a little bit closer together. and I could see a female, I believe it. was established from the DA's office, um sitting on the other side of the. victim's mother putting her arm. around her. Um and it appeared to comfort her well. I I actually ran into the victim's. mother. um during a 15-minute court break this. morning in the ladies' room. Her eyes were red.

And there there really are no. But at the end of the day, Jesse, all of this coverage surrounding David, the entire media is here. Every crew. that has been camped out outside of this. courthouse trying to get a seat in that. courtroom covering this case. It's all about justice. Justice for this victim. And that's why. these court proceedings are running on. kind of the way they are and why they're.

being so cruel to do this properly. Because the defendant is still innocent. until proven guilty. And the prosecution. of course wants to ensure that he gets a. fair, just trial if this ultimately does. go to trial. >> And Julia, you said something very. interesting. I mean, aside from the fact. about how incredibly heartbreaking it is. to be thinking about this family having. to view all this. You talked about the. prosecution doing this properly. I.

thought it was really interesting how. they even began this preliminary hearing. with calling uh the senior deputy Juan. Gonzalez. They didn't focus on the crime. scene first. They focused all the way. back in 2024 with David, you know, the. police going to his home to ask him. about Celeste disappearing. And what he. knew about Celeste. And this is the. first time that I ever saw or heard. about this. And you tell me, you watched. it for yourself. There was body camera. footage from officers who confronted him.

and went to his residence, right? What. was that footage? >> It was about 10 minutes of yes, body cam. footage um showing this senior deputy. from the LA County Sheriff's Department. um who was assigned to do a welfare. check at that home in the Hollywood. Hills along with his partner who he met. at the house. Um and [snorts] the first. thing I noticed, because I've seen David. in the courtroom several times now, the.

first thing I noted was just. David. right. He is disarmingly. charming in this video clip. You know, he lets the deputies in. He's laughing. and joking with them. He's just casual. He's eating I think a bag of chips. He's. got something wrapped around his hair. He's chilling at home. And the way this deputy just run it on. the stand during cross this morning was.

that David was very cooperative. And he told them at one point during. this video, "Hey guys, you know, I've. got alcohol in the fridge." And the. deputy responded, you can hear him on. the body cam video recording, "You know, that's all good. That's not. what we're here for.". They made it clear they were just. looking for this. this missing wallet from Lake Havasu. There was a back and forth caught on. video, caught on that body cam and that. we watched in court as part of this 10.

or so minute long recording. And that. was age. And David states on that video, she told him she was 18. And he was informed at that point that. she was in fact 13. And there was an exchange where the. senior deputy doing this search asks. David, "Well, does she look 13?". So, that Q&A, that video recording, that's owned evidence. I definitely.

expect that to come back up. during cross, during the actual trial if. it is ultimately brought into trial. >> I even read from your notes the defense. was really homing in on that, right? The. idea that he was cooperative, that he. thought she was 18 years old. But, you know, the prosecution is. basically saying, the way I understand. it from that footage, he wasn't being. honest about their relationship. He. wasn't being honest about the last time. he saw her, what he knew about her. And. so, you could see the value of that kind.

of footage in the time frame cuz they. claim that he had been in a relationship. with her and and met her and I think in. 2022 and been in a relationship with her. since 2023. I want to ask you about the. this other witness who testified. invest one of the lead investigators, I. believe, Josh Bayers, right? And I. actually previewed in our preview. episode of the preliminary hearing, I. thought that they might call him. What. did Josh Bayers have to say? >> So, they were actually in the middle of.

questioning. this detective from LAPD, it's a. different agency here. This is the city. police department leading the homicide. investigation. He is from their robbery. and homicide division. So, they were in. the middle of back and forth. establishing his credibility essentially. as a witness. when the judge called for this lunch. break. But, Joshua Bayers, this. detective from LAPD is the one.

describing what he found in that Tesla. when he was called to the Hollywood home. when Tony left. Um, and I I think this part of cross. examining during the preliminary hearing. is going to take a little bit of time. because even though this detective is. just doing his job that he has done for. many years and telling us what he saw. and what he did as a part of his job, it it's shocking.

It is absolutely shocking and and I I. actually overheard a conversation. between two reporters, there's two. members of the media in the hallway. during that break earlier about how. startling it was to them when the. evidentiary photos showing the victim's. remains. were presented really without much. preamble. So, he's in the middle of just. lighting all of that right now and then. talking about the search warrant that he. obtained to search David's house.

The devices they recovered from that. house, how they were able to link those. devices to the Tesla. How they were able to establish the. Tesla was driven by David until well. after the victim was killed. And and also the conversation that he. had with Samantha in the courtroom, Hey Zeus Foods, the victim's father and. how he talked to the father of the. little and then showed her the his son. smoking and how he requested contact.

information for the victim's dentist so. the medical examiner can reach out for. the dental records. because there was no other way. to positively identify her. He told the. court how the kind of dental fair and. found the two cadaver dogs in the front. touch one that tail for. There was so. much decomposition. There was so much. skin slippage. They couldn't identify. any facial features. >> Julia, thank you so much. I know it's.

getting loud there. Really appreciate. it. Thank you. Now, there was somebody. that jumped on a loud speaker. So, it. was kind of here hard to hear a few of. the things that Julia was saying and I. know there was more she wanted to get. into but I have her notes here. One. thing I'll just mention, it was. interesting how the prosecution started. out by focusing on the disappearance of. Celeste back in 2024. Remember they were. claiming that she was a runaway because. they seem to be trying to establish this. alleged sexual relationship that David. wasn't honest or allegedly wasn't honest. about what his relationship was like. with Celeste. That's the way that I view.

it in kind of chronological, right? You. go all the way back to the Riverside. County investigation and then you go. into what happened out in LA. Now, just. some notes I want to highlight from This. is a Julia's notes that she gave us. Talking about a detective Byers or. investigator Byers. Yes, that Hey Zeus. Rivas did call LAPD on September 10th. about his missing daughter. This was a. call that was forwarded to Byers. She. indicated there were media helicopters. that day that the media attempted to. follow the investigators and Julie. actually noted she was in one of those. helicopters that day. That Byers had.

spoke with Jesus Rivera, that his son. was an interpreter, that there was a. belief that he thought those remains. were his daughter. It's just. heartbreaking to be thinking about that. They talked about searching this rental. property where David was staying at and. that there was a car registered to. Robert Morgan Roth. This is David's. assistant, somebody who worked with him. There was evidence that was collected. from the interior of the residences. including multiple devices, computer. towers, phones. Byers also described. this unopened burn box that was found at. this place, kind of like a mini.

crematorium that it's used to burn items. to nothing. Now, no indication as far as. we can see that that was used to. actually inflict some sort of impact on. Celeste's body, but it could go to the. idea there was preparations to dispose. of her remains. that's going to be. something they go with. And then this. was interesting that in Byers described. reviewing United Airlines records. showing flights purchased by David for. himself and Celeste for these trips from. Los Angeles to Texas, London. So you're. again goes to this idea of a continuous.

sexual relationship, maybe other. witnesses who observed anything like. this. Now one of the thing I have to. highlight is as this went to a lunch. break, District Attorney Nathan Hochman. held a short press conference outside of. the courthouse to talk about the. preliminary hearing and about whether or. not they are going to pursue the death. penalty in this case. Take a look. >> Good afternoon. My name is Nathan. Hochman. I'm the Los Angeles County. District Attorney. Today starts today the preliminary. hearing of David Anthony Berg. The.

singer David spelled D A V I D. This preliminary hearing will last. approximately three to five days at. which point the uh we will be seeking to. hold David to answer for three felony. counts of which he has been charged. First-degree murder with special. circumstances, uh the count of lewd and lascivious acts. with a 13-year-old, and the count of mutilation of human. remains.

David will be facing a maximum. punishment of life without the. possibility of parole, uh or he is also. death penalty eligible. The decision on. whether or not to seek the death penalty. has not been made at this point. Now, the point of a preliminary hearing. is somewhat different than you actually. perceive in the media, whether it's TV. or the movies. Cuz what often happens in. TV or the movies is you go from an. immediate uh arrest into a trial. But in our system and in and in.

California in particular, you have an. intermediate step. That intermediate. step is a preliminary hearing where. effectively the prosecution's evidence. is going to be tested before a judge, not a jury. The standard that we have to meet is not. beyond a reasonable doubt at the. preliminary hearing stage. It is a It is. probable cause. We are not obligated nor will we be. presenting. all the evidence at a preliminary. hearing that we will be presenting at a.

trial to prove David beyond a reasonable. doubt guilty of the three felony charges. of which he has been charged. So, at the preliminary hearing, we will. call a number of officers. We estimate. there'll be over 10 different witnesses, both officer testimony, coroner. testimony, and there'll be individual. witnesses as well. And again, we can rely on hearsay and. other things that won't be allowed to be. relied on in an actual trial. The judge at the end of the presentation.

of the evidence, and again, this is. evidence that can be cross-examined. by a defense attorney, and that has. already that process has already been. got. At the end of the presentation of all. this evidence, the question will be will. David be held to answer on the three. felony charges. We believe we will more. than accomplish the evidentiary burden. of probable cause at this point to hold. David to answer on these three felony. charges. At that point if the judge does.

hold him to answer, we will file an. information. that will detail the the the actual. three criminal charges. Thereafter, there will be a trial date that will be. set and David, if he so chooses, will. proceed to trial and we will prove at. that point beyond a reasonable doubt. that David committed these three crimes. And when and we do not predict if when. he is convicted, we will then be seeking. the sentence that we are allowed to seek.

by order of law and we will let you know. in a future date whether or not that. sentence will also include the death. penalty. So, I wanted to take this opportunity as. we're starting this preliminary hearing. process to explain where the preliminary. hearing fits in the process so people. can understand as we are presenting. evidence and it is being cross-examined. what ultimately the standard is for the. judge to determine and that's probable. cause not read beyond a reasonable. doubt. It is a judge that is doing this.

determination not a jury at this point. and that there will subsequently be a. trial when the judge holds David to. answer on these three felony charges. When this uh preliminary hearing is. over, I will come back to address you and at. that point I will take questions. Thank. you very much. Not surprising. I think. they want to lay out the case, see what. the court does and then there may be. even discussions between them and the. defense about do you want this to go to. trial? Can we work out a deal maybe.

where we take the death penalty off and. even those are moratorium on executions. and uh he pleads guilty maybe life in. prison something I've been wondering. about we'll see. 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 [music] on. YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. You can also check us out on NBC's. Peacock. [music]. If you want to follow me X Instagram and. NewsNation show Jesse Weber Live Monday. through Friday 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll. see you next [music] time everybody.