D4vd Caught Partying Hours After Teen Was Killed: PI

So many updates in the David case. First, he's now being accused [music] 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 the shocking story. We want to. get into it right now with Steve. Fischer, the private investigator who. has been on top of this [music] case. from the very beginning. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. >> [music].

>> Okay, before we go any further, I have a. Law & 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 assaulted 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 Davis Hernandez, filed by the LADA's office last week. We. know that they claim that Celeste's. 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 LA in the Hollywood Hills. He's also facing special circumstances. allegations of lying in wait, 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's official. cause of death was multiple penetrating. injuries, the manner of death homicide. We did a whole sidebar with forensics. examiner Dr. Mary Jabeck. If you want to. check it out, you can see it. It's on.

Law & Crime's YouTube page. We also put. the full autopsy report on our app Law &. 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. hearing evidence in this case, but no. indictment was returned. Interesting. Again, as I spoke about with the LADA. Nathan Hochman, 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. Fischer who has been on the ground in LA. looking into this case for months.

Steve, thank you so much for taking the. time as always. Uh 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 filed two motions. Uh the one. they filed a motion for him to wear. civilian clothing. Uh 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 around and. filed another motion for him to get a. haircut by the LA Sheriff's Department. before the hearing Friday. And uh that. was approved. That was approved. All. right. 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 even get to that, just. going back to his physical appearance, I'll just say it. Look, it's not unusual. for criminal defendants or particularly. celebrities. uh 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. Do you Is David somebody. who cares about his appearance overall? One thing I've always noticed in in. 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 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. the the the child in the jury. Uh. specifically, it won't be going forward.

So, it's really interesting cuz all. there's going to be is a sketch artist. I think he's a narcissist. I think he. wants to keep his. uh persona for the people that do show. up in the in the courtroom. I don't. know. Maybe it's being driven by his. attorneys, but I don't 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 war- warrants. in this case. Talk to us about how many. they are and and what you know about. that. Yes, I went yesterday and I found out. there's 50 I think there's 54 sealed um.

55 including one that's unsealed already. uh 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 him to. ex to unseal everything that's under. seal so they have this information for. the preliminary. Which you and she said. specifically mentioned Beth specifically. mentioned the search warrants and the.

grand jury transcripts. And that's when. she disclosed there was three separate. grand juries. and the process that has to be done to. unseal those those transcripts. The judge said, "Hey, I'm on board. I'll I'll I agree to. unseal everything. I just need the. motion." No motion's been filed though. They motioned to file the motion for the. appear- you know, for the physical. appearance, the hair and the photos. Nothing that at least as of it that's on. the docket um to unseal uh those things. Couple made a questions here. Why.

wouldn't they? Because there's been a. question about whether or not they're. going to delay the preliminary hearing. or whether it's actually going to happen. Friday. You remember they 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. I wonder if they're going to have. difficulty asking for a delay if they do. by and not even having according to you. made a. a a motion to try to unseal them. Yeah. So, I have a feeling that you. know, what what you're saying is exactly. it. I think they're probably at the last. second going to say, "We don't even.

You're under We don't have the. discovery." It's in in I think there's. going to be some pushback because at. that last hearing. the judge said specifically. that. um she was willing to make. accommodations cuz and and I I. appreciate this from her. She She This. is a high-profile trial. And um. if if for [clears throat] instance, she. said that she does not do afternoon. hours. She was making an exception for. today for the hearing to 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, um 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? Uh because they really didn't. want the information right now. Um. that's I think it's going to get They're. going to get called out on that, I. think. Uh. I would imagine today will be the day. that will. I I if I had to 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 going to have um. you know, Apple iCloud and and and his. individual devices. Um I can tell you um. that he does have a lot of actual. devices, a lot of phones. Um and then. you're going to have um. Google [clears throat] and stuff like. that. But there was a search warrant. issued as late as um April 20th. So, after his arrest. Um. and and there was another one that looks. like it falls on like the um.

like the 5th or the 6th 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 I think they probably had um. some sort of Yeah, I think that when. they. when they arrested him, they cataloged, you know, what was there and then they. got a warrant immediately. Kind of like. they did with the car originally. They. They went there, they verified there was.

snow in the car, they immediately got a. search warrant to enter the car. Probably the same thing. And 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 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, there I I I definitely think. there's going to be at least. um cloud type of data. Um other Facebook. account or Instagram accounts, you know,

meta, let's call it. Um and. you know, iCloud. Um they specifically. leaned into iCloud a lot. They said that. they there was over 10 TB of data from. one iCloud account. So, which Listen, I. can kind of see you guys a musician. He's probably got a ton of music, ton of. video, raw video, and everything backed. up there, but it's still a massive. account. I know I've heard reports of. them saying 10 TB of child porn. I don't. think that's the case. I think it's a 10. TB account. Um so I Yes, I think others are wrapped.

up in this. I think all of his inner. circle people have had all their um. 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. Um. 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 uh uh. interesting and 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 the who they were. served upon, and we'll be able to see. what the return was. Not that Not saying. the data, but the the return filed by. the police saying, "We recovered, you. know, this account data from this. account." We'll see it on a general. basis. But And we'll see who it was. served upon, what they were looking for, and what the probable cause was. But. it's 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. Um and we'll talk. about it a little bit later on cuz at. the time of this recording we haven't. had the hearing yet. Uh 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, they only They don't have They. just have to show enough that they have. probable cause. However, I think because. of the um nature of the case and. everything, and because some of the. scrutiny that 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 Neal Langston and and and Rob. Arnett said. They have to have that. information. They can't go to a. pre-trial 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. they're talking a little different than. the real strategy that they're going to. actually employ. 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. clients' 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'll. 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. 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 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 it at a refund. And. they immediately processed it, and this. started the ball rolling. And good for. them, you know, um. Yeah, he hasn't been proven guilty yet. I I know that, but but they're a private. company, and if they're like, "We don't. want to our name attached to him. whatsoever, and we're going to refund. people who, you know, um the. good for them." And because listen, Celeste didn't meet him through Fortnite. when she was very, very young. And then. it went over to Discord. And um so I I.

appreciate they did that. And And he did. um he used that platform to to lure. people, and it's, you know, um obviously. against their terms of service, and they. didn't endorse it at all. But I'm glad. that they're they're um they're not. 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's alleged killing, and what. happened immediately after. Uh you know,

it it's it's really. wild to kind of see it on on paper like. this, and I got to give my analysts. credit for putting this timeline. together. On the 23rd is is the day that. the um a prosecutor said alleges that. she was she was killed and. lured over there and then then killed. Beth Silverman seems to be saying it was. the 23rd because last week. >> going over to his house, and she never. she never And she also called it the. one-year anniversary of her her death. last year on uh um on the 23rd. So, he comes over there, and that is the day. of that uh.

uh he'd just gotten done with Coachella. He's back. He's kind of on this like. rush of activity going on, and they. announce that the Wither tour or Wither. album's dropping. And uh there's going. to be a tour, and pre-sale starts. Uh. so, here comes the money rolling in, right? And And obviously, they're. alleging that Celeste was threatening to. stop that. Now, what I find really. interesting is And And I'm not saying. anybody else was involved. I'm just. saying I find it interesting that this. period of time, uh the 23rd, when they. announced that um the next day they have.

a album release party, and Wither tour. pre-sale, 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, but And his friends are all. around. We I put up pictures yesterday. of them on the 20 4th at this party. Uh. this would be just hours after he killed. her, and he's hanging out. And 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 PR events happening, and. by the 25th, from the you know, 23rd, he. kills her, by the 25th he's in New York. He has a party, album release, all this. stuff happening. Who was around him? Uh I think that's. going to be really key. Yeah, so this. party you say is in Culver City, uh. California. Um you said in your. uh your post, based on the timeline, "I. do not believe David was alone for more. than brief periods between April 23rd. and April 25th." Um I guess the question.

is, where do you think Celeste's remains. were? Where was her body during this. time? I don't know. I mean, they're actively. at this minute trying to find that out, really. And listen, I think that there's. some nexus to downtown LA. Uh. on May 5th, when they allege that she. was unfortunately, you know, dismembered. by by him. Um. they said that that that happened on May. 5th. There's a photo of him that social. media post that we recaptured of him at. a Cinco de Mayo type event downtown at.

late at night with a food truck. Physiology of this is that if he 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 would have. been in the state really to dismember. her to where. uh. you know, her. she was still wearing clothes and.

everything. And And that would have. been, uh you know, a really tricky. situation if she wasn't. So, I think. something. I think she was stored downtown or. somewhere. um that had refrigeration. These 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? Was it on. the 23rd or the 24th? He uh well, he he streamed a. performance. Uh he did a a three-day. BandLab collaboration in New York City. starting on the 25th, then flew home to.

Houston, and performed there from his. hometown on the 28th, and then he. streamed that um as well. But he was. Listen, he. 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 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, he's the belle. of the ball, you know. So, uh 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. It So, 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.

Davis 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. Hochman in my interview on Jesse Weber. Live on NewsNation about whether other. people will be charged, and he goes, "Look, it's an ongoing investigation. If. people have more information, come. forward." Uh 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 are 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. Um and as that, you know, that. blown about it, I think I think uh two. of those people, I think um Neo and. Asia, it's 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 Hochman saying, "Yeah, you know, we can't say anybody's going to be. charged if if they were honest and if. they kept to their immunity agreement.". No, he didn't say that, but I'm just. saying I'm just reading between the. lines, that then they're probably okay, but if they lied to us, they're not. going to be okay. And listen, that. wiretap could tell a lot, you know, and.

if they find out that they didn't tell. their whole story or they they lied a. little bit, then you're not [snorts]. covered anymore. Can you elaborate a. little bit more on the wiretap, how it. works, how they law enforcement would. have been able to get that? Yeah, so it's it's done a lot on it can. be done on a state level, which it was, but it can be 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 everything, like if. you said, "Hey, don't put that in. writing, call me, man." You know, it's. all going to be recorded. And Right. I. think that's going to take up a very, very large part of the 41 terabytes of. data. When do you think her body was put. in that Tesla? After I think I probably on the night he. dismembered her, on May 5th, if that's. the day it happened, or whenever he did. dismember, 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 until proven guilty, these. are allegations. Why do they believe May. 5th is that date? >> 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 [snorts] 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 May. 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 um. right after dismemberment. Steve, I always appreciate you coming. on. I know this is not an easy case. to talk about. Uh 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 26th. There's 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. Thank you so much for joining. us, and as always, please subscribe on. [music] YouTube, on podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. You can also check us out on NBC's. Peacock as well. If you want to follow. me, X, Instagram, [music] my NewsNation. show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through. Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll see you.

next time, everybody.