Twists Mount in D4vd Tesla Dismembered Body Case as Loved Ones Beg for Answers

Singer David has hired a prominent. defense attorney as rumors and. speculation around the death of a. 14-year-old girl, Celeste Riva. Hernandez, continue to grow. The teen. was found dead in a car registered to. the viral artist who was in the middle. of a tour when her remains were found. Now, as Celeste's family prepares to say. goodbye, we are digging into the latest. details as well as theories about what. might have happened to her. And we're. going to break it all down with criminal. defense attorney and former prosecutor. at Manino. Welcome to Sidebar, presented. by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

One of the songs that rocketed David. Anthony Burke, known by his moniker. David, to stardom was Romantic Homicide. It is back on the Billboard Hot 100. chart. Okay, the hit, which originally. went viral on TikTok back in 2022. It is. re-entered the charts at number 38. according to Billboard. So, why the. sudden interest? Well, for anybody who's. been following us here on Sidebar, you. know there is a lot going on right now. It seems that fans, new and old, are.

connecting that chilling song title with. an investigation into the death of a. teenager who was apparently associated. or connected with David before she went. missing in 2024. Now, we're talking. about the fact that her body was found. in a car registered in his name. We are. covering every angle of the. investigation by LAPD into Celeste Riva. Hernandez's death. the cause of death, which is so far listed as deferred on. her death certificate. We don't know the. manner of death either. Police say her.

decomposed body was found in the trunk. of a Tesla at Hollywood Towyard in Los. Angeles back in September. This was one. day after she would have turned 15. LAPD. sources told People magazine that. Celeste remains had likely been inside. that car for weeks as it sat apparently. abandoned on a neighborhood street. before it was towed. Towyard workers had. called the police when at least one. person had realized there was this. horrible smell coming from the car. That. is when first responders found Celeste's. body. It was apparently wrapped in a.

plastic bag. But here's the thing. Despite that Tesla being registered to. David, despite him apparently renting a. property near where that car was parked, and even despite his alleged connection. to the victim, he has not been named as. a suspect. He has not been named as a. person of interest. He has not been. implicated officially in any wrongdoing. or any crime. In fact, no one has been. named as a suspect so far. In fact, an. LAPD commanding officer said it is. possible that Celeste wasn't even.

murdered. That perhaps her death, when. we think about it, was it attributed to. something else, an accident, overdose. In other words, there is a possibility. that the only crime could be someone. tried to hide her body. So, as we await. more testing like toxicology reports, we. know that the medical examiner performed. an autopsy on Celeste remains, determined that she was not pregnant, nor had she been pregnant in the last. year. That's important because there's. been speculation that there could have. been some sort of sexual relationship. between David and this young girl. He's.

20 years old right now. And as more and. more rumors spread about David's alleged. potential involvement, he has canled his. music tour, which was supposed to. include more stops in the US, also. abroad. He appears to have gone off the. grid. We don't know where he is. His. social media pages kind of void of new. videos and photographs. But there is. this. This is new. LA magazine now. reports that David has hired a prominent. celebrity defense attorney, Blair Burke. Now, she has represented very. high-profile clients. Harvey Weinstein,

CEO Green, Bruno Mars, Britney Spears, Lindseay Lohan. She also, by the way, most recently represented Monica. Simmentelli, the Los Angeles mom who was. sentenced to life in prison for the 2017. murder of her celebrity hair stylist. husband, Fabio Simentelli. So, to talk. about this, to talk about the. implications of these new details, particularly hiring a defense attorney, let's bring in our own criminal defense. attorney and former prosecutor, Matt. Manino. To be clear, Matt doesn't. represent us in a criminal uh arena, but. we love having him on. He's a great. guest. Matt, it's really good to see.

you. So, a lot of online Slooh in the. true crime community, they are obsessed. with this case. They are digging into. David's past internet activity, his. posts that are either with Celeste, believed to be with her, believed to be. about her. There's been a lot of. reaction to his hiring of Blair Burke, before we even get into what the. reaction is online, your thoughts on him. apparently reportedly h uh retaining. Blair Burke. >> Well, that's a good decision. Um, you. know, anytime your name starts swirling.

around in a in a criminal investigation, even though the police have made it. clear that he's not a suspect at this. point, it's always a good idea to hire. an attorney. Before you talk to anybody, before you know the police come out and. talk to you or ask to talk to you, have. an attorney in place. have someone who. can try to control the narrative at. least because of course he is a. celebrity and his wealth and his. resources come from his celebrity status.

and so you want to protect that as well. and so a criminal defense attorney. someone particularly who's represented. other people who were c who were. celebrities you know can be very helpful. in this very important time. >> why do it now why do it now this is. after by the way that Celeste was IDed. this was after apparently the property. he was renting was searched by law. enforcement. They reportedly confiscated. some materials. This is after uh he. canled his tour. This is uh you know.

after the death certificate was. published. Why now? >> Well, I I think you know, let's be. honest. I mean, this is kind of a a. strange situation. There's no question. there's a connection between him and. this teenage girl, very young. Her body. is found in his car. He has a place or. his manager has a a place nearby where. he may have been staying. You know, we. can't ignore the lyrics of some of his. music, which are eerily close to what.

the facts of this case are. Now, prosecutors are not going to file. homicide charges until they know uh the. manner the cause and manner of death. And you know, as your viewers, Jesse, know that this could be an accidental. death. It could have been a suicide. It's unlikely that it's natural causes, but the question is, is it homicide and. what was the cause of death? Once those. two things are answered, I think this. investigation, you know, really picks up. some steam. Talking law, you know who,

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other words, most people think criminal. defense attorney, oh, once you're. arrested, right? Once you're indicted, once you're charged, once the criminal. process starts, that's when you hire a. defense attorney. What could she be. doing behind the scenes now? Could she. be back channeling communications with. her sources, potential sources with law. enforcement, the prosecutor's office, seeing whether or not charges are a. foot? Could she be trying to tell them. what her client is up to? Could she be. releasing a statement? Should we expect. a statement from her in the next few.

days? >> Yeah. Well, so you know, a seasoned, experienced criminal de defense attorney. has a lot of contact. So, so you have. people in the prosecutor's office that. you have relationships with, whether. they be attorneys or detectives. You. have people in the police department. that you've had longtime relationships. with. What you want to do, you know, at. this point is get the lay of the land. I. mean, what direction is this going in? You know, what are they looking at? We. know that his home was searched I. believe and so you want to know what was.

found there if in fact they want to. share it. Also, you know, maybe this is. a situation where the most serious. charge is going to be, you know, abuse. of a corpse or illegal disposal of a. body. Well, now you want to try to. control that that narrative and and. begin to say, "Hey, you know, my my. client has nothing to do with this, whatever the situation may be." So, so. you want to know, you know, knowledge is. key in this situation. You know, intelligence, what can I find out so. that I can protect my client, not only.

from criminal prosecution, but but the. public scrutiny that may come with all. this. >> I'm curious your thoughts on these. comments. So, according to Fox LA, people online have said a lot of things. You had one uh person who commented, "Oh, you cannot pay me enough to defend. this dude. The evidence against is as. big as Mount Everest." Another said, "Hiring a high-profile lawyer usually. means you're guilty and just hoping for. a lighter sentence." But of course, you. had one social media user who pointed. out, "In the court of law, he is. innocent until proven guilty, and hiring.

legal representation is within his and. anyone's right and doesn't make anyone. guilty." Matt, thoughts on those? Well, I I I think um you the last comment uh I. think is is the wisest comment because. listen, we don't even know what the. circumstances are here. I'm sure he's. feeling some pressure whether it's from. online, he canled his tour, you know, he. realizes correctly that he needs some. professional help. He needs someone to. guide him through this situation whether.

he's involved in it or not because he's. been involved in it now by implication. by public scrutiny and for an. entertainer for a celebrity that's. extremely important. So he has to make. sure that he navigates this with the. best possible advice. I'm sure he has. some sort of media people who who are. crisis management who are also helping. him with this. But, you know, you need. to have a team together to make sure. that you're dotting the eyes and. crossing the tees in terms of how you.

best protect yourself in this situation. Just want to put a point on this. Would. it have been wise for him to have. retained a criminal defense attorney the. minute the minute it was reported that a. body was found in a car registered in. his name or and put that to the side, that's one part. And B, just to be. clear, this does or does not indicate. that there could be a prosecutorial. decision soon. In other words, that. there could be an arrest, that there.

could be an indictment, something of. that nature. Just want to put a a point. on those two. >> Yeah. So, so Jesse, there's a couple. ways of looking at that. So, so number. one, you know, it's strange to be out on. tour and say, "Hey, a body was found in. your car." But on the other hand, you. know, he may say, "Well, geez, I don't. know anything about this. I I don't know. how this happened or somebody else has. access to my car and think well this. isn't going to come back on me. But then. all of a sudden as you see this churning. in the media, you know, on social media.

now maybe you say, geez, maybe I better. get an attorney. Okay? You know, that. could be part of the thought process as. well here. But on the other hand, I I. think your point is well made. Someone. may have called from the DA's office. says, "Listen, we're getting some. preliminary reports from the coroner. We. don't have a a coroner's report yet, but. you should get a lawyer. And those are. the those are the kind of things that uh. that could happen here. I mean, we're. speculating, but I could see it, you. know, from both perspectives. >> So, let me ask you this real quick about.

the timeline. So, last year, Celeste was. apparently reported missing several. times, having apparently run away from. her home in Lake Elenor, California. She. had been seen on earlier surveillance. video outside of a liquor store in that. area before apparently jogging out of. frame. This was believed to have been. the last time that she was seen, at. least on camera. The timeline is has. since shifted. We talked about this on a. previous sidebar, but after TMZ obtained. surveillance footage that appears to. show Celeste on September 8th, 2024. So,

this is months after she was reported. missing. According to TMZ, the Nest. video came from neighbors who said that. her family was kind of upset or she was. upset about some kind of ding-dong ditch. prank. There's apparently yelling. There's the use of racial slurs. It's. unclear if Celeste had returned home at. this point or was just stopping by. But. it is a chilling detail. You know, this. was exactly one year before her remains. would be found in that Tesla. When we're. talking about the timeline, when we're. talking about Matt about when she may.

have been killed, how long she could. have been in that car, what were her. movements, her actions before her death, how significant is this in the. investigation? And again, he retains an. attorney after all this footage comes. out. I'm not saying it's connected at. all. Not saying it's related at all, but. I have to imagine this footage is. significant. >> Well, yes. I mean, a timeline is always. important. uh you know trying to. determine you know when this potential. homicide or when her death occurred you.

know where she was uh you know. immediately before that if you can if. you can piece that together because you. know that tells us some very important. things where was David at that time you. know when you allege that her death. occurred that's significant were there. other people possibly involved was there. other connections to her you know where. were those people at that same time. So. timeline is always something that. prosecutors and investigators want to go.

back and establish because it puts. people in specific places when a. potential crime occurred. >> And I got to ask you about this. Okay, so there's new reporting from TMZ. NewsNation, ABC News that apparently. shows that Riverside County Sheriff's. deputies, they were called out to. Celeste Lake Elenor home 11 times over. 14 months between February 2024 and. April 2025. Now, it's not clear how many. of those calls involved Celeste, maybe. involved other members of the family,

but there is an important note here that. News Nation reports that police. acknowledged that deputies visited her. home twice on March 19th, 2024. So, that's the same day that she was seen. outside that liquor store. Celeste's. ex-boyfriend or parent ex-boyfriend, a. boy named Damen Hernandez, spoke with. TMZ about his middle school relationship. with her, telling the outlet that. Celeste had a tough home life. TMZ's. Charles Lati Bodier told Ashley Banfield. he said that she would say that her. parents were really mean and that she. didn't like being at home. Okay, Matt.

So, how critical is that part to this. investigation? >> Well, I think it's critical because, you. know, it appears there's a period of. time where she's unsupervised by any. adults. I mean, we're talking about the. age of 14 years old. She's not at home. Where is she? you know, what is she. doing? There's a lot of questions that. need to be answered. Was she attending. school? How was she getting to school? I. mean, there's a lot of things that you. could piece together. I mean, we're.

talking about a child essentially who is. missing and is unsupervised and where is. she and how is she continuing to exist. in the system maybe without attending. school, without uh you know, children's. services being involved there. There's a. lot of questions with regard to that. And I go back to this point, you. mentioned it before. Why would he hire a. criminal defense attorney to reportedly. do so? Because he may not actually be. responsible for what happened here. He.

may not be attached to this in any way. There's something that's been. circulating here. At least I' I've been. trying to make the point that is it. possible that he's being targeted. What. do I mean by that? I I think it's really. odd the circumstances of where Celeste's. body was found. Cuz here's what we know. from police about how this whole. investigation got started. So, the Tesla. is marked as violating street parking. rules on August 27th, 2025. A parking. citation is issued September 3rd. September 5th, it is impounded. Celeste. remains were found September 8th. Days.

later, detectives with LAPD's robbery. homicide unit. They served a search. warrant at the nearby home that David. was apparently renting. They took out. several bags of evidence. Exactly. What. it is, we don't know. He canled his. tour. And on the same day that Celeste's. body was released to her family, movers. were apparently seen taking things out. of this LA rental home. And the. homeowner told TMZ that David's manager, Josh Marshall, had told them that they'd. be breaking the lease. Okay, let me ask. you this. It is strange for someone to,

let's say, kill Celeste, put her in this. car, and their body's been decomposed. That car has apparently been sitting. there in public view for quite some. time. There's reportedly been complaints. about it, citation. It's been towed. It. seems to me, is it possible somebody. wanted that body to be found and wanted. that body to be found in the car that. was registered to David as opposed to. someone committed a crime, they. panicked, they didn't have enough time. to dispose of the body. That feels.

incredibly incredibly sloppy. Um I I. mean, I'm not doing a conspiracy theory. here, but I do wonder if that's. something that has to be explored. Well, I think everything has to be. explored, Jesse. And and you know, it's. it struck me uh when I read some of the. news reports that, you know, his one hit. song specifically talks about dragging a. person and putting them into the trunk. of a car. And we learn now that based on. this incident that's occurred, you know,

he's back on the Billboard charts with. this same song. It's returned. We live. in strange times. Um it it's you know. sometimes you know bad news can be as. profitable as good news uh for for a a. celebrity for an artist. So could this. be someone who's trying to replicate the. song? Is this some effort to get the. music back into the public domain where. people are going to start listening to. it that it ends up on the Billboard top. 100? Like I said, Jesse, sometimes we.

don't know the difference between good. news and bad news and how it impacts. you. And I think something like that. needs to be thoroughly examined as well. >> When do you think we'll get an answer? When do you think we'll get more. information? >> Well, as soon as the medical examiner's. report comes down. He that that report. is going to provide us with the cause of. death, but we do have a decomposed body, so that could take a little more time. Then it's also going to give us the. manner. And if the manner of death is.

homicide, then this case is going to. explode. If it's undetermined, that. might be another issue that has an. impact on what direction this. investigation goes. Well, one thing I. didn't ask you is do you do you think he. ha you know, there was reporting about. he's been cooperative with law. enforcement. An LAPD commander says. couldn't confirm whether he's been. cooperative. Do you think at some point. in the last month or so he has spoken. with law enforcement? He sat down for an. interview.

>> Wow. Uh if he did that without an. attorney, uh then he he made a huge. mistake. And I don't say that that means. he did anything wrong. I'm just saying. anybody who is a potential suspect or is. being investigated by the police who. sits down with the police without an. attorney has made a grave mistake. >> Matt Manino, let's see where this goes. next. Really appreciate you taking the. time. >> Thank you, Jesse. And that is all we. have for you right now here on Sidebar.

Everybody, thank you so much for joining. us. And as always, please subscribe on. YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. You can follow me on X or Instagram. I'm. Jesse Weber. I'll see you next time. [Music].