D4vd Hands Over House as Tesla Dismembered Body Case Heats Up

Why did singer David just transfer two. properties to his mother amid the. investigation into the death of Celeste. Rivas Hernandez, the young girl whose. decomposed body was found in his car? Does this have to do with a recent. apparent swatting incident at his. parents house? Is there something else. going on here? Is this suspicious? Is it. strategic? Let's discuss. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. All right, real quick. This is another. lawn crime legal alert. There are.

allegations right now claiming that. online apps like DraftKings, ESPN Bet, Bet MGM, Bet 365, Fanatic Sportsbook, Caesar Sportsbook, that they are. engineered for addiction. These. multi-billion dollar companies allegedly. continue to put profit over safety. Every small payout, free bet, boosted. parlay can trigger a dopamine rush that. creates dependency and a destructive. habit. They can keep users hooked and. trap people in a cycle that can lead to. serious financial loss. while our legal. sponsors are taking on the online. gambling industry to seek justice and.

potential compensation. So, if you or a. loved one has struggled with addiction. or financial hardship or mental health. issues due to sports betting apps, then. visit gamblingawsuits.com/sidebar. to take a short quiz and check your. eligibility to file a claim. Okay, so we. have this new development in the. continuing story of singer David, who. has been in the news quite a lot lately. since the body of 14-year-old Celeste. Riva Hernandez was found in a Tesla that. was registered to his name. This was. back on September 8th out in LA. We have.

been covering every aspect of this story. as currently there are no arrests, there. are no identified persons of interest, there's no identified suspects, there's. no released cause and manner of death. And when it comes to David, who. authorities haven't officially confirmed. what the exact connection or. relationship he has to Celeste, even. though there has been speculation and. reporting that the two were romantically. involved, while he hasn't been. implicated in any wrongdoing or any. crime, there is a lot of interesting.

stuff that has been going on that we. have been trying to piece together to. see if it has any connection to the. investigation into Celeste's death. And. that includes with respect to David's. parents and what David reportedly did. with that house that we need to talk. about. Also another property. So on. September 18th, we've talked about this. This is after Celeste's body was found. Someone called 911 to David's parents. house in Hemstead, Texas and what. appears to be a fake report. This.

alleged swatting incident. >> Waller County Sheriff's Office. Amber. >> Hello. >> Hello. >> Yeah. Waller County Sheriff's Office. >> Um, hello. I need help. >> Okay. What's going on? Where you at? >> Oh, my address is. >> Okay. What's going on? >> Um, I heard like some like gunshots. >> Okay. How close to your residence were. they? >> Um, they were like right outside my.

house and I think someone's dead. Okay. What's your name? >> Say it again. >> What's your name? >> Okay. What's a good phone number for. you, sir? >> Okay. Why do you believe that somebody's. dead? >> I just heard like a loud scream and. there was um gunshots. >> Scream. Okay. After shot. Okay. But you. haven't saw or heard anything else after.

that? >> Uh I heard a scream. Oh, was it a male. or a female scream, do you think? >> It was like a female. >> Female. Okay, we're going to go ahead. and get deputies headed out that way and. just confirm in your. >> Yes. >> Okay, I'm going to get him sent that. way. Okay. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. Bye-bye. >> We actually interviewed an audio expert. who concluded that this call was in fact. distorted. Someone masking their voice. It's on a previous episode of Sidebar. I'll play a little bit of it in a little. bit. But police, they ended up showing. up to this house.

>> They ain't on their phone. And that's. not a this is not a that's not a Texas. Uh. >> yeah, that's an out of state number. >> Someone's messing with us. >> Someone's but whoever it would pinged. here though because wherever they call. from it pings and sends it to dispatch. >> What the what? >> So like whenever you call 911, wherever. you are, >> it sends a it sends like a ping to let. that's how they know his address. >> And this address and this address came. up to this number. >> Uh yes, ma'am. That's where he was. to.

engine 42. >> So, is that somebody on my property? >> It could be. We'll check the property. for you. Yes, please. >> So, we'll ride around. If you give me a. layout, how is it? How's the property? >> Like, does it go further back? Like, >> no, no, it doesn't go down further back. It's right here. >> Well, him and I will ride around and. check and then uh we'll leave and I'll. put the pin back cuz all you did is pull. that pin and then pull I'll put it all. back together. Thank you, sir. like.

>> but yeah. No, I took it apart cuz when. it something like that when somebody. says something like that, we got to get. up here to save somebody's life, you. know. >> Yeah. Okay. So, that was a false alarm. You see, I don't like this kind of. thing. But if I really do have an. emergency, then. >> Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Sorry. >> If you do have an emergency, you know, we're going to be here. >> We're going to get here. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Thank you, gentlemen. All right. >> You have a good night. >> And now we got to talk about what is. being reported. Okay. So, according to. TMZ, David has transferred deeds of two.

Texas homes to a trust in his mother's. name that this apparently happened on. September 18th and September 22nd. September 18th was the day of this. alleged swatting incident. And that home. appears to be one of the properties that. we're talking about. So, why did he do. this in the middle of a death. investigation? Time to bring in Matthew. Selson, trial attorney, to talk more. about this. Matthew, thank you so much. for taking the time. Why did he do it? Why do you think he did it? >> Thanks for having me. So, I have I have.

two suspicions as to why he did this. You know, this case, you guys have been. covering this from the start. This is. getting crazier and crazier uh by the. minute. I have two suspicions as to why. he did it. And both of them have to do. with asset protection. Old-fashioned, I. want to preserve my assets in the event. something happens to me. if he is. charged criminally, and obviously we're. speculating, but if he were to be. charged criminally, but there would be a. monetary fine as part of any potential. punishment. If he doesn't have the. assets to pay the fine, then he can't.

pay the fine. So, one thing to do is get. rid of your assets and put them in. someone else's name. The other side to. this is related, which is, is there. going to be a civil lawsuit? Celeste's. family could file a wrongful death. lawsuit against him and others. It's a. little premature because there's still a. lot of unanswered questions about this. But if they were to file a civil. lawsuit, he could essentially try to. hide assets in his mother's name or in. anyone else's name for that matter. Whether he's successful is a whole.

different conversation. >> Bunch of questions with that. By the. way, this is exactly what I suspected. too might be going on. Let's be clear. about something though. can, you know, transferring these assets in. the middle of a death investigation. um as opposed to two years ago or a year. ago, right? >> Could a court look at this and say this. was a deliberate attempt to what you say. concealing assets and they could breach. it. They could pierce it. They could say. even though that you've transferred this.

into your mother's name, that was. invalid. This is a way for, let's say, a. plaintiff who sues him or let's say in a. um a criminal judgment to to to pay that. fine. Can a court look at that and say, even though you transferred it, it's. still open season on those properties? >> Yeah, this is what's so puzzling about. this. It is a very basic premise of uh. of law throughout the country that you. can't transfer assets after the event. happens that would otherwise trigger. collecting on those assets. So, we have.

rules in different states. Sometimes. they're called fraudulent transfers. Sometimes they're called fraudulent. conveyances. There's a lot of different. names for them. But the crux of it is. you cannot transfer assets to protect. yourself from a creditor when the event. the triggering event in this case the. death of Celeste happens prior to this. happened just in the last several days. versus her death which I'm not even sure. we know exactly when her death was but. clearly these transfers are after her.

death. So it would take little effort. for a court to undo this transaction and. rule that it is a collectible asset of. David. >> Be clear about something else. We don't. know 100% why he did this, right? And. I'll go to some other theories, but. perhaps it is does have something to do. with this case regarding Celeste. If he. did this in anticipation of a criminal. action or he did this in anticipation of. a lawsuit, to be clear, that doesn't. necessarily mean that he's guilty. That. doesn't necessarily mean that he's.

liable. It doesn't necessarily mean that. he did something here. It would just be. an anticipation of what could happen, right? Because he could come out and. say, "I'm being falsely accused. I'm. just doing what I have to do to protect. myself." But that doesn't necessarily. uh what we say in the law. It's not. consciousness of guilt. Right. >> Well, I'm not sure I entirely agree. I. think. >> Okay, that's fair. could yeah I think. you could make an argument and depending. on how it comes into evidence you could. have admissible evidence against him.

that is it is essentially an admission. of wrongdoing or an admission of. liability now if there's a criminal case. he can't be called to the stand and say. hey David why'd you do this right he has. fifth amendment protections he'd never. take the stand but that doesn't prevent. his mother from taking the stand and. nothing insulates mom so they could. depose mom and say why did David do this. did he ever tell you why he did this and. all of his conversations, all of his. text communications with mom or anyone. else, those would be admissible. evidence. So, I have a feeling if they.

dig, and I suspect they're going to dig, you'll probably find some communication. that is admissible and can eventually be. used against him. Again, speculating, look, if he's I hate saying this, but if. he's innocent, he has nothing to hide. That's such a sort of a a weird terrible. cliche that sometimes people say. >> Yeah. So obviously if he if he didn't do. anything if there's no judgment entered. against him in a civil case or if. there's no fine levied against him as. part of a criminal conviction then yeah. the conveyance is fine and nothing will. eventually happen. I just I think the.

circumstantial evidence here is that. something did run a foul uh of of. David's life and that's why he did this. >> Would his mother have to testify about. this transfer? >> Yeah, his mother would have to testify. The lawyers who did the transaction. would have to testify. the lawyers who. drafted the trust documents might have. to testify depending on how these. documents were created. I kind of want. to see those documents because were. these properties in a trust to begin. with, but he was the beneficiary of the. trust and the deed was simply in the.

name of the trust. If that's the case. and he simply transferred the. beneficiary, it's still a fraudulent. conveyance. It's still going to be. undone if there's eventually a judgment. against him. Or did he create the trust. for the purpose of this particular. conveyance? And if he did, that trust. document probably would have been. created in the last few weeks. I want to. know how that trust document came into. existence. A whole lot of people are. going to have to testify about that. >> And real quick, why put it in a trust as. opposed to just, I don't know, selling. the properties to his mom.

>> Yeah, that's a great question. There. there is a belief in this country. I I. do this a lot. There is a belief in this. country that if you just put your assets. in a trust, they're somehow protected. And the truth is, the reality is almost. all trusts are breakable at some level. Even the most ownorfic offshore trusts, you see this all the time with offshore. trust in the Caribbean or offshore. European trusts. You can eventually. break those trusts. It's very hard. It's. very expensive. So, I suspect he sort of. just said, "Let's just put it in a trust.

where it won't be immediately reachable. I don't know if it's a revocable trust, if it's an irrevocable trust." If it's a. revocable trust, he can simply revoke. the trust and take his assets back. It. would take one sentence. He can just. write, "I hereby revoke the trust, sign. his name, the assets go back to him." If. it's an irrevocable trust, he can't do. that because by definition, it's. irrevocable. It can be undone by a court. if it was fraudulent. But there's all. kinds of tax implications for a. revocable trust versus an irrevocable. trust. I'm not sure why he did this.

except I suspect this was sort of a. basic low-level attempted asset. protection that I don't think is going. to provide much protection in the end. >> Right. I'm glad you you clarified that. And by the way, let's just talk timeline. real quick. Any reason that this. happened on the same day of the alleged. swatting incident? Coincidence? Could it. not even be connected to Celeste? Could. it be, hey, you know, if my family is. now being targeted in some way? Let's. just take go with that theory. My. family's being targeted. Is there.

anything that this could do to help his. family, protect his family, protect him? >> I thought about that. My gut is telling. me it's coincidental and it's just a. just sort of an odd timing. There's one. aspect to this that I don't know about. yet, which is has the family sent a. demand letter? Has the family of. Celeste, not not David's family, has. Celeste's family lawyered up? And have. they sent a demand letter to David and. his people? And if the answer is yes, that demand letter may have actually.

triggered some of this. That may be why. the timing is what it was. M and this. also happened, our understanding is the. day after police got a warrant to search. that rental property out out in LA. Now. remember that was a property that he had. been renting reportedly $20,000 a month. Gets out of it, breaks the lease, moves. stuff out. Think that's any part of it? >> I'm not sure about that. I've thought. about that. He owns properties. He's. living in a rental. There may be some.

tax benefits as to why he's owning. property in Texas but only renting. property in Los Angeles. It's LA. obviously is a very expensive market. So. there may be a lot of reasons why he was. only renting. And then the question is. look all of his properties are going to. be subject to a warrant, right? His. cars, his bank accounts, his phone. records. I'm sure LAPD, this is. high-profile. I am sure LAPD has had. multiple warrants that have been. executed, most of which we probably. don't even know about against his. properties, his cars, his phone, his.

credit card companies. This is what. happens when there's a high-profile. investigation like this. Lots of. warrants are going to be issued. >> Well, Texas is where the car with. Celeste body inside, that's where it was. registered. I significant when we think. about what's going on here. >> Not really. It may end up being. significant if. I'll give you an example. I I don't know. where she was killed. We don't know. We. don't even have a cause of death yet. We. know very little about this. Now, is it. registered in Texas because he's from. Texas and that's where his family's.

from? That's probably the case. That's. my guess. But maybe there's more to it. than that. I just don't think we know if. the fact that it's a Texas registered. car, but it's in LA. Probably should. have been registered in LA because I'm. sure it was there for more than 30 days, which is what triggers registration. Uh, so I'm sure it was improperly registered. in Texas, but I don't think that. necessarily means anything. >> When you think about some of his recent. moves though, you wonder, is it all. connected? Right. So he hires celebrity. attorney Blair Burke, moves out of the. property that he was renting out in LA, which was near where the Tesla with.

Celeste was found abandoned. That was. after authorities searched it, canceled. his tour. Promotion of his album has. been halted. Do you think all this all. these moves all this happening is. connected or and again we're just. talking about the properties being. transferred. Do you think it's all. connected? >> Yeah, I mean it's really hard to say. it's not connected. This this the story. here, you know, as you know, as your. audience knows, he wrote a song entitled. Celeste. He had a matching tattoo with.

Celeste. Celeste had apparently told. some family and friends. >> She had a boyfriend named David. There's. a lot of unconfirmed reports, but. there's a lot of unconfirmed reports. And you start putting a little bit of. this unconfirmed report and some other. unconfirmed report and you start. thinking, what are the odds here? You. know, one thing we don't know yet is, have they conducted any kind of DNA. testing on her? Because if they were in. a relationship, not only potentially was. was there wrongful death involved, but. she was 14, he was over 18. That's.

statutory rape. There's a whole lot of. things that are going on that I really. want to know about. Is it all related? I. I don't see how it can't be. It's just. it's too overwhelming for it to for you. to say, you know, nah, this is all just. coincidental. >> Well, and one thing to point out, the. medical examiner's office did confirm. that she wasn't pregnant and she hadn't. been pregnant in the past year. Just I. think that's significant to call out. once again. Uh you talk about. connection. We didn't get a chance to. talk about it, you and I. Do you think. the Texas incident, right, this alleged.

swatting episode when it happened, do. you think that's connected to Celeste's. death in any way? >> Yeah, I I actually do. And I I'm. speculating a little bit. So, I want to. be clear that I'm speculating a little. bit, but I'm wondering if someone in. David's entourage doesn't have somewhat. of a guilty conscience and knows some. information and wants to without. actually dropping a dime and speaking to. authorities. I'm wondering if there are. people who are trying to sort of steer.

authorities in a certain direction and. say, "I can't give you the details, but. look over here and go from there." I. think it was intentional. I think people. are trying to help out the. investigation. >> Let me ask you big picture. What are you. going to be looking out for next? What. are you expecting next in just this. general story, this general case? >> I'd like to know the specifics of the. time of death and the cause of death. And I'd like to have more friends and. and people in in his entourage come. forward with information about the.

nature of their relationship. I think. the nature of their relationship and the. autopsy report, cause of death, is going. to tell us a lot about where this. investigation is headed. And let's step. back for just one second and say, let's. assume David wasn't involved in her. death. Well, how else did she die? Somebody put her in that Tesla. somebody. murdered her and put her in the Tesla. Where are the other potential suspects? Who else? What is the other competing. theory out there? Cuz I haven't heard.

any competing theory. >> So, so, so law enforcement, a. representative from law enforcement came. out, commanding officer, and said, you. know, they're not entirely sure if there. was a crime beyond concealing her death. In other words, there could be a. situation where her death was. attributed, and I'm not saying this is. the case, but where her death was, you. know, let's say an accidental overdose, for example. I'm not saying that's the. case here. Or she died under other. circumstances that someone panicked and. took the body and put it in the Tesla. And we've talked about for weeks here. why her body was in that specific car.

for that period of time. The car was. getting noticed. The car was getting. ticketed. Was there an effort for it to. be discovered? You know, it's on this. public street. Is he being targeted? You. look at, you know, the swatting. incident, the alleged swatting incident, too. There's a lot we just don't know. I. agree with you. Once we get more results. of the testing, the cause, the manner of. death, that will be a very important. component of this case, but we still. don't even know all the circumstances. surrounding it and what is going on. But. we're continuing to stay on top of it. and hopefully get answers sooner rather.

than later. Let me actually add this. Hopefully her family gets answers sooner. rather than later. Matthew Selson, thank. you so much for taking the time. Really. appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> One more thing. We have been wondering. if David is actually being targeted, if. he's being harassed, right? So, the idea. of why was this body found in his car, public street, public place, did someone. want it to be found there? You know, the. idea of the alleged swatting incident in. Texas. Well, we did something in our. previous episode of Sidebar. Give you a.

little sample of it. We spoke with. Jennifer Owen, who is a audio expert, a. video expert, and this was her. conclusion about the person who called. 911. Okay. about whether they were. masking their voice using technology. Take a listen. All right, Jennifer, let's start here. Is someone concealing. their voice in this 911 call? >> Absolutely. >> Okay. And how do you know what are they. doing to mask their voice? >> Well, first and foremost, just listen.

listening to it as either a lay person. or if you were a forensic audio analyst, it's the robotic inflection. When you're. listening to that recording, are you. suggesting a it is a real life person. using a piece of technology to mask. their true voice or is this AI. generated? >> Well, it could be either, but just from. my experience and, you know, 30 years of. doing this, it sounded like a voice. changer to me. >> Okay? >> Sounded like a voice changer. And the.

reason why it sounded like like a voice. changer is because it all had to do with. pitch. And for those of you at home, real simple. Pitch is how high or how. low your voice can go. And that's real. easy to change. Real easy to change. You. can do that with, you know, a free app, a 99 cents app. You can do that with. forensic software. You know, if you're. if you make music, you can do that. You. can do that on your wave pad. You can do. that on anything. So pitch is basically. just the degree of high or low of the. voice. And that's the easiest way to. start. But I have a sample here that I.

want to show you how easy it is and how. by looking at it, we can say, "Wait a. second. This is our first clue. This is. the first red flag. I'm going to put. this in forensic software and I'm just. going to take a look at the voice. formats and say, "Hey, how was this. done?". >> So, is this you saying this may be how. the voice was changed using this piece. of technology, this program? Is that. what you're showing us? >> It's very possible. >> Okay. So, let show it to us. [Music].

All right, so there you go. We'll see. what happens next in this continuing. story. Thank you so much for joining us. here on Sidebar. As always, please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your. podcast. You can follow me on X or. Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you. next time. [Music].