D4vd Now Eyed as Suspect After Dead Teen Found in Tesla: Report

It is now being reported that David may. officially be a suspect in connection. with the death of 14-year-old Celeste. Riveras Hernandez after this missing. girl's decomposed body was found in his. car 2 months ago. This is a major. development strange considering recent. reports but major nonetheless. Oh, and. TMZ is now reporting that LAPD may now. be looking at this as a homicide case. [music] If all of this is in fact true, what does this mean for him and this. investigation? Welcome to Sidebar. [music] presented by Law & Crime. I'm.

Jesse Weber. Real quick [music] before we go any. further, got to say this. If you're in. the content creation game, have you ever. wondered how we're able to get these. stories, these clips out so fast? I'm. going to give you a secret. It's. something called Opus Clip. This is an. all-in-one AI editor that makes it so. easy to cut, create, and upload videos. across any platform through AI. Opus. Clip generates b-roll, it reframes. footage, it cleans up audio. It is easy. You just visit opus.pro/sidebar, you. sign up, you upload, and in minutes. you'll have perfectly edited clips ready.

to go. For TikTok, Shorts, Reels, Opus. Clip is your one-stop shop. Having a. tool like Opus Clip means our producers. can get you viral courtroom updates. instantly. This is the most powerful. tool there is to help you share ideas. and edit like a pro. So, go to. opus.pro/sidebar. to create your videos today, and for. November only you can get 65% off of an. annual plan. Anyone else have whiplash. right now? The back and forth on this. story is so confusing to say the least. I mean, we just reported yesterday that.

TMZ came out and confirmed that the LAPD. told them that there were no arrests. that are imminent in the death of. 14-year-old Celeste Riveras Hernandez. whose decomposed body was found in a. Tesla that was registered to singer. David. Her body was found September 8th. But now, outlets like TMZ and ABC News, they have just reported that sources. confirmed to them that David, real name. David Anthony Burke, is now considered a. suspect. Now, the LAPD didn't come out. and say this for sure, they didn't. confirm it. But this is what is being.

reported. And TMZ, by the way, reported. that they are being told that the LAPD. is in fact looking at this as a homicide. investigation. And they even cite how a. source is reportedly telling them that. the investigation found that David. allegedly took a trip in spring 2025 to. this remote area in Santa Barbara. County, was there for several hours. TMZ. does warn though that they haven't. double-sourced this information, but it. should be noted. We don't know when.

Celeste died. Reporting indicates that. she may have been dead for quite some. time. Steve Fischer, the private. investigator who was hired by the owner. of the property that David was staying. at, which is near where the Tesla was. found, he said there's proof of life. photo of Celeste from January 2025. Publicly though, there've been no. confirmed videos or photos of Celeste. since 2024. Now, all of this new. reporting, I have to be clear, all of. this new reporting, we can't 100%. confirm if this is true. In fact, E! News claims they contacted the LAPD for.

comment, but a spokesperson said they. couldn't confirm this reporting because. this is an ongoing active investigation. This idea that David is a suspect, that. is backed up also by NBC4 Los Angeles. who says they spoke to an LAPD source. with direct knowledge of the. investigation. By the way, the same. source who confirmed that David is no. longer cooperating with law enforcement. in this case. Again, that's the. allegation. LAPD hasn't come out and. said that officially. But we got to talk. about this. And I I actually want to. read you before I even get into that. I.

want to read you a direct quote from. NBC4 Los Angeles. Quote, "Police tell. NBC4 Investigates that Celeste's death. likely occurred in the spring and that. David likely had help in dismembering. and disposing of the body." To be clear. again, no arrests have been made as of. yet, okay? Why this is so confusing. aside from what I just mentioned with. TMZ reporting that LAPD told them. there's no imminent arrests, LAPD told. KTLA, what was it, last week that they. stand by their prior news release that,

quote, "The Los Angeles County Medical. Examiner has not yet determined the. cause or manner of Ms. Riveras. Hernandez's death. As such, it remains. unclear whether there's any criminal. culpability beyond the concealment of. her body." So, is the reporting. suggesting that he is the suspect in the. concealment of the body, something more? And by the way, that is true when it. comes to the ME, it doesn't appear that. there is a change, that this manner and. cause of death have been listed or have. been determined. Once that comes in. though, once the toxicology results come. in, we're going to have a better. understanding of what happened here. But.

according to ABC, their sources say the. ME will in fact make a determination. soon. And ABC News is reporting that. according to sources, Celeste, this girl. from Lake Elsinore, California who was. reported missing last year, her body was. dismembered when it was found in that. car and that the dismemberment and the. disposal likely involved more than one. person and that law enforcement have. been in touch with several people who. are somehow connected or involved in. this case. What do we make of this? Let.

me bring in Col. Schmitt, retired FBI. agent, president CEO of Chronus. Litigation Experts. Thank you so much. for coming on. What does it mean to be a. suspect? Let's start there. What's the. definition of a suspect? Well, a suspect means they have uh they. have predicated an investigation in the. person. So, that's kind of lower or. reasonable suspicion. So, they have a. reasonable suspicion that the person may. be involved in a crime. They don't. necessarily have probable cause or. beyond a reasonable doubt, but right now. they're at the point of reasonable.

suspicion. So, now that means they're. they're. uh they're ramping up their resources to. really lean in on this person if in fact. they are a suspect cuz that has not been. confirmed officially by LAPD. Would they. confirm it? Like, you think they'll come. out today, tomorrow, and say, "Yes, he's. a suspect"? No, they're not going to do. that. In fact, I'm sure the district. attorney's office is a is a bit uh. irritated that these leaks are coming. out if in fact they are truthful and. they are confirmed because the it.

impacts the the their ability to move. forward with their investigation cuz cuz. now that if he indeed is a suspect, then. everybody around him is going to be. ready when law enforcement starts. knocking on their doors if they haven't. already knocked on their doors. Can you. expand upon that? Why is that such a. danger to label him as a suspect at this. point? Is the idea. people, like you said, people won't. talk, he might do something? Um again, we don't know for sure, but what is the. danger of him being publicly labeled a.

suspect? Well, the first part is everybody in his. circle is going to lawyer up because. they they if they have any information. about this, they're going to protect. themselves if indeed he is a suspect. Secondly, it provides a danger to law. enforcement. Now everybody's kind of on. edge, so when they go knock on those. doors, if the person that they thought. was a witness was culpable or. participated in this, it could be a. danger to that law enforcement when. they're knocking on the door and if that. person wants to protect themselves from. being found out. So, when these leaks.

happen, it it's really frustrating as a. retired law enforcement officer to see. this because it just makes the the job. of the detectives that much harder. If. he is in fact a suspect, does law. enforcement know where he is right now? Cuz we don't know where he is. I I I would make the assumption they do. They've probably been tracking him per. se since uh the day the body was uh. found and they identified him as being. the owner of the car, but we don't know. if he's in the United States or if he's.

in a some foreign country. And depending. on which foreign country it is, if he is. in fact a suspect and he is charged, then they're going to have to go through. a process of extradition, which could. make this case go on for a very long. time. Does a suspect always lead to an. arrest? No. So, like I said, it's a. reasonable suspicion, and so those. homicide detectives with LAPD, which my. biased opinion are probably the best in. the world, they're going to run down. every single lead to make sure that they. have the right person, and they're also. going to look into hypotheses that don't.

lead to him to make sure they have the. right person because ultimately their. goal is to prove this beyond a. reasonable doubt. So, they can't just go. out and decide, "Okay, this is a. suspect" and then focus their entire. investigation on him or her. They have. to run out all the leads to make sure. they have the right person. When I. mentioned whiplash before, you can. understand why I said that, right? I. mean, if the reporting, you take all the. reporting is true, that LAPD comes out. and says there's no arrests that are on. the horizon, and yet now it's being.

reported he may be a suspect. Can two. things be true at once? Can he be a. suspect, but there's no arrest that's. imminent? Ab- absolutely. So, like I said, they. still have to do their investigation. They don't want to arrest anybody then. have to release them because they got. the wrong person. So, they're still. gathering their information, they're. still interviewing people, they're still. waiting for the ME or the uh the the. toxicology reports to come back because. somebody of this profile, and then. frankly they've been burned in the past.

by uh pulling the trigger, so to speak, too soon. The DA's office wants to make. sure all the ducks in a row before they. uh move on anybody that's involved in. this. Before I even go into, you know, this possibly being investigated as a. homicide, if this is true, do you think he's been. a suspect for quite some time? Why do I. say that? Uh do you think David knew. that he was being classified as a. suspect? If it's true, we don't know for. sure. Hired Blair Burke, this. high-powered criminal defense attorney.

to very prominent stars, hired her last. month, transferred homes to his mother's. name. Do you think it is possible that. we may only now be learning that he's. classified as a suspect? It's not been. official, LAPD hasn't come out and said. it yet. But is it possible that he's. been declared a suspect for quite some. time? Well, in the concept of declaring a. suspect, I think the the LAPD doesn't. declare, maybe a person of interest. would be the the at the best the where. they officially declare somebody a part.

of the investigation, but the. bottom line or the logic here is all the. data points were pointing to him based. specifically upon him being the owner of. that car and then occupying the. residence as that was near where the car. was found. So as soon as that was leaked. or came out to media, I'm sure that's. when he hired his lawyer and I'm sure. that's when he started taking actions to. protect himself and protect his assets. There was a theory because this is new. There was a theory that yes, it was his.

car. Maybe he's not connected to it in. any way. Maybe he didn't know who was. operating his car. He was on tour. He. wasn't part of her body being moved. there. If it's you take all this reporting as. true as I mentioned, what do you think's. leading them to believe that he was in. fact. potentially. we'll move we'll put aside this homicide. investigation. This what do you think is leading them. to believe he was somehow connected to. her the disposal of her body, moving her.

body. Well, statistically speaking. a homicide is is done by somebody that. knows that the victim. So that So this. basic logic or statistic will show. that's the first person you're going to. look at anybody that has a romantic. relationship with this young lady first. Then the second part is okay, the car. was found with the body dismembered and. it was his car and it was found near his. house that he occupied. And so that the. data points are all leading in one. direction. Doesn't mean he did this.

It's just they still have to prove this. beyond a reasonable doubt. But the. bottom line is that his relationship. with her is well documented and because. of that they're going to follow up on. those leads and find out what happened. And based upon the fact that the body. was dismembered, it's likely that he had. or he but somebody had uh help doing. that cuz to dismember a body, there's a. lot of effort into that. Again, we're. looking on the outside, but when I spoke. to Steve Fischer, right? He said.

based on my conversation with him, based. on what I'm reading, it doesn't appear. that there is surveillance footage of. David driving the car, putting a body in. anything like that. He had mentioned. that there was evidence in the house. that would suggest there might have been. planning of disposing a body. Do you. think that this is true that he's a. suspect in her disposal in the disposal. of her body, maybe the mutilation of her. body. Do you think there's. communications they got a hold of? Do.

you think there's witnesses who have. said something? Maybe there's other surveillance footage. that we don't know of because if he's. not point blank on camera moving a body. or moving the car, there has to be. something else that's been happening. behind the scenes. Well, we kind of look at it from another. perspective. The way the body was found, it doesn't. appear that this is a cartel hit or. something or somebody that's very. sophisticated. It looks to me like it's. somebody who's not very sophisticated.

and if in fact he is a suspect, he's. only 20 21 years old. So he doesn't have. a long criminal history in a very. sophisticated nature of how to hide a. body, to be participatory in crime. So. to answer your question, I think there's. lots of evidence out there that's. pointing to the people who did this and. then we go back to the car itself. It's. a rolling supercomputer. They've got so. much data coming out of the computer. that's in that car. Like I said before, I'm confident that they're going to find. out who did this and who participated in.

her disposal. If it's also true with TMZ. reporting that this is possibly now a. homicide case, a homicide investigation. We don't know for sure if that is true, that's a 182. That's a 180 from what. LAPD had said that they might not be. investigating this other than just a. concealment of a body case. Either LAPD didn't know at the time, something changed or LAPD wasn't being. entirely transparent with the media. because like you said, they didn't want. to tip off about what the. investigation's really about. Talk to me. about why you might see that kind of 180.

there and you know, it's interesting. because when we took that information. and we're thinking well, wait a minute. If it's not a homicide investigation, how did she die? Theories of drugs being. involved, an overdose. We don't know for. sure. If it's a homicide investigation, which by the way, you could potentially. have a homicide investigation even if. drugs are involved, but do you think. LAPD was being honest? Do you think. something changed? If this is true, if. this is now if the TMZ reporting's true. that this is now a homicide. investigation, how explain to me that.

180. Well, the first thing is LAPD hasn't. given anything out official. So we're. just operating on anonymous sources. Secondly, if indeed it was started out. as a disposal or a dismemberment and. went to homicide, that leads me to. believe that they either have an. independent data point in terms of. somebody told them something that this. led to a homicide and or they had a. preliminary review of the medical. examiner's report and saw indicia of. violent acts on the body. Even though.

the body was dismembered and was in a. state of decomposition, the medical. examiner's still going to be determined. cause of death based upon what's. happened to to the bones or the. lacerations or the state that it's in. So it just tells me there was a data. point that came out that that led them. to believe this if in fact it is true. cuz we're still operating on anonymous. sources. As far as I know, when you look. at the website, the medical examiner. hasn't listed for this case the cause. and manner of death. It It hasn't been. publicized. Do you think that law.

enforcement has spoken to the ME? They. know it. They're just not It's just not. being published at this point or if. there is a delay, why a delay in a case. like this? Well, I think it's it comes right back. to the media attention here is cuz once. you. and the DA's office in LA as well as. LAPD is very experienced with the media. They know once they release that ME. report, that's going to cause another. round of speculation and media. firestorm. So they want to hold their. cards very close to them while they're. gathering all their facts because once.

you let the horses out of the barn, you. can't let them back in. And I'm fairly. confident that they know what's in that. ME report. It's just a matter of time. before it does officially come out and I. would suspect it won't come out until. they actually have a charging document. along with it. I know I sound like a broken record, but. I'll say it again. Assuming these. allegations are true, assuming this. reporting is true, the Santa [clears throat] Barbara trip. is bizarre, no? Well, yeah. Well, I mean what was he. what was going on up there? Why up.

there? I mean it's you know, who would. want. >> I why would they be interested in it if. it's true? Why why are they interested. in it? Well, just taking a a step and. following this hypothesis, that might be. where this this criminal act occurred. And that might be in the computer of. that Tesla showing that trip that to and. from and with that information and and. frankly, there might be video of the. people who were involved in this walking. around the car. I mean we just don't. know until that information is released. But the point is there is a lot of data,

a lot of evidence that's surrounding. this and whomever did it was not very. sophisticated because frankly, the body. was found. What What would be the charge if you're. talking about concealing a body? My. understanding is in California if you. conceal an accidental death, that's a misdemeanor. There is willfully. mutilating a body. I believe that could. be a felony. Maybe evidence tampering. What do you see that could be potential. charges here? Well, depending on what was going on, they might actually whoever helped.

if there was somebody who helped dispose. of the body, they could also be roped in. as an accessory to a murder, which is. actually the serious charge. That's a. felony and that's very long stretch in. federal prison. So that's essentially. like a conspiracy that you would charge. in federal court. So if there was a. group of people involved in this, everybody is looking at a very long. stretch in federal or in state prison. because of the fact that she was she. died and she was dismembered and the way. and and the state that she was found in. and. the the fact that the victim's family.

wants justice as well as the the public. Yeah, and by the way, if you're dealing. with. allegedly drugs being involved, there. are ways you could bring homicide. charges, particularly if you're. furnishing drugs to a minor and there is. some sort of overdose. I'm not saying. that's what happened, but just something. to be thinking about here. as we try to make sense of Well, and. that's a good what's going on here. And. that's a good point. In federal law, it's strict liability. So if a drug.

dealer gives drugs to a person they die, they can be charged with basically a. homicide in the federal sense, which is. 15 years to life. So there could even be. federal charges here if she did die of a. drug overdose. To be clear, the. reporting indicates that no case has. been presented to a prosecutor, but that. doesn't necessarily mean that. prosecutors aren't working with law. enforcement. In other words, let's say. there's a lot of people and let's say. they come to them and say, we could. charge you with X, Y, and Z right now,

but if you cooperate, that has to be a. conversation with the prosecutor's. office as well, right? I mean do you. think the prosecutors and investigators. are working hand-in-hand maybe maybe in. these interviews if there are interviews. happening? Absolutely. I mean and that's. way it it's done in the federal system. and then in these high profile cases, there's tight coordination between the. LA DA's office as well as LAPD. I'm sure. there's communications ongoing because. the DA's office wants to have oversight. to make sure there's no mistakes made. Not that the LAPD would, but the bottom.

line is the DA's office has to defend. all of LAPD's actions in court. So. they're going to make sure all the ducks. are in a row and they're doing. everything by the book because this is. such a high profile incident. They don't. want to have another OJ problem on their. hands. They want to make sure this is. clean, straightforward and then all the. facts are presented to a jury if and. when that does happen. And let me just. add this. Um, we talk about this case a lot. It's in. the media a lot. It's on social media a. lot. People are invested. People care.

My heart goes out to the family. My. heart goes out to the family not only. for their loss, but trying to navigate. this and if they are kept in the dark. Colin from law enforcement and I'll ask. you whether or not you think that they. are, if they have more information than. the public does, whether they should, whether law enforcement should share. more details with the family than law. enforcement. This back and forth, this. one day it's this, one day that, I have. to imagine is incredibly distressing and. incredibly frustrating. But do you think. the family is getting more information.

than the media right now? It's kind of a a trust issue. There's. been instances where the law enforcement. shared information with families and the. family went right out and had a press. conference. So, we have to see what. comes out and we don't know what that. level trust is between the family and. law enforcement and the LA District. Attorney's Office does have a victim and. witness bureau or group that does. interact with victims of violent crime. So, to answer your question, we just. don't know. I mean, the bottom line is. this is a young lady who was killed or.

who was found, you know, dismembered. We. don't know if she was killed and that's. a tragedy beyond comprehension. You. know, as a dad that that this happened. and so with all this media firestorm, we. still have to remember that there's a. victim here and there's a family that's. standing behind that victim but which is. just such a tragedy. It is a tragedy. It. is sad. And hopefully we get some. answers here. Colin L. Schmidt, thank. you so much for taking the time. Really. appreciate it. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. 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.

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