D4vd Celeste abortion texts shown in murder hearing

Text messages about abortion, emergency contraception and a strained relationship took center stage Friday in Los Angeles as prosecutors presented D4vd Celeste abortion texts at the singer’s preliminary hearing.

D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is charged in the killing and dismemberment of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. He has pleaded not guilty to murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains.

The hearing is being held to decide whether prosecutors have shown enough evidence for Burke to stand trial. There is no jury; Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo will make that decision.

What do the D4vd Celeste abortion texts say?

LAPD Detective Corey Farrell testified that messages recovered from Burke’s phone ran from August 2022, when Celeste was 11, through April 23, 2025. Farrell said the messages discussed sexual encounters, meeting places, abortion and emergency contraception.

According to text exhibits shown in court, Celeste wrote in November 2023, when she was 13, that if she was pregnant she was not going to have the baby. In December 2023, she asked Burke whether she should take Plan B, prosecutors showed.

In a January 2024 exchange, Burke apologized and wrote that he did not want to put her through “this,” according to the exhibits. Celeste replied that they were not able to care for a baby, and Burke later asked when she was going to get it done. She answered, “2 days,” the texts showed.

Prosecutors also displayed a June 2024 message in which Celeste asked what would happen if the first abortion had not worked. The next day, Burke wrote that they should make it the last abortion until they had children, according to the exhibits. In July 2024, he referred to an “abortion gift,” prosecutors showed.

Farrell testified that the phone contained many explicit images of Burke and Celeste engaged in sexual activity. Prosecutors also showed images from inside a Tesla, pictures of what appeared to be an engagement ring and photos of tattoos tied to the relationship. Burke sat shackled in court as the evidence was displayed.

What else did prosecutors show in court?

The messages also included talk about marriage, plans for the future and whether other people knew about the relationship, according to testimony. Prosecutors introduced late 2024 and early 2025 messages that they said showed the relationship becoming more tense.

In March 2025, shortly before the last recovered communications, Celeste told Burke she no longer wanted an in-person relationship and said their time together centered on sex rather than a relationship, according to the texts shown in court.

Celeste’s remains were found in September in the trunk of a Tesla belonging to Burke, and he was arrested in April. Previous court filings said Burke sent a car to pick her up from Lake Elsinore, California, on the night of April 23, 2025, and that her phone died after she arrived at his Hollywood home.

Los Angeles Medical Examiner Dr. Grant Ho testified Friday that Celeste died from multiple penetrating injuries and that her death was a homicide. He said decomposition made it impossible to determine the exact time of death, but she had likely been dead for at least weeks and could have died as early as April 25.

Ho also testified that Celeste’s body was dismembered after death, including severed limbs and amputated fingers on her left hand. He said the injuries were consistent with a power tool, potentially a chainsaw.

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman has accused Burke of killing Celeste to protect his music career, which Hochman said she threatened. Burke’s attorneys have said they will vigorously defend his innocence.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled to resume Monday.

This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.