Prosecutors say they allegedly found child porn on D4vd's iCloud at court hearing for his murder charge
Topics: Crime, Music, True crime
William Morgan
Featured Image Credit: Peter White/Getty Images
Topics: Crime, Music, True crime
As D4vd awaits trial after being charged with the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Hernandez, investigators poring through his personal life have uncovered a 'significant amount of child pornography', prosecutors allege.
Real name David Burke, the 21-year-old singer-songwriter was arrested last week and then charged on April 20 in relation to the murder and dismemberment of Hernandez, almost eight months after the child's body was found dismembered in his car.
Hernandez had been declared missing by her family in 2024 when she was just 13, and they never saw her again. Now, Burke faces the highest sentencing level for his alleged crimes, with special circumstances that include: lying in wait, committing a crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an investigation.
The singer denies all charges. However, the case being built against him took a major step forward today, as prosecutors revealed the disturbing terabytes of information they claim to have recovered from his iCloud and physical storage devices.
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With only one terabyte of information pored through so far, out of eight recovered from Burke's iCloud, LA County deputy district attorney Beth Silverman said it was slow going for investigators due to the time it takes to upload the significant amount of data.
Even though they have just an eighth of the singer's uploaded content, Silverman confirmed in court that they had recovered a 'significant amount' of child abuse images from the singer's storage.
However, it remains unclear what proportion of these 8000 gigabytes of data is child abuse imagery. Silverman added that there was a further 30 terabytes of data found on a number of devices belonging to the singer.
As the prosecution and defense gear up for Burke's trial, all of this data will have to be formatted onto drives and pored over by both teams. Variety reports that the singer was 'slumped' in his chair as this was discussed in court.
These latest disturbing details in the investigation into Celeste Hernandez's death and dismemberment come just a day after the LA County medical examiner released the child's heartbreaking autopsy results.
The autopsy revealed that Hernandez's injuries were consistent with 'homicide' and that she had died from 'multiple penetrating injuries', resulting from multiple wounds to her chest, torso, and abdomen.
Hernandez's autopsy was unsealed this week despite being completed in December, after her body was discovered in multiple bags in D4vd's impounded Tesla. Her arms and legs had been removed from her body.
Burke stands accused of first degree murder with special circumstances.
Celeste Rivas Hernandez, aged 13, is reported missing by her family from Lake Elsinore, California. It is the third time she is reported missing that year, but tragically she is never seen by her parents again.
D4vd’s debut album Withered is released. It debuts at No. 13 on the Billboard chart, with 30,000 units sold in the first week. He tells The Hollywood Reporter that 80 percent of the album was made on his phone and he recorded vocal takes in his sister’s closet.
D4vd begins a world tour, starting with a gig in Del Mar, California.
Celeste’s severely decomposed body is found in the front trunk of a Tesla linked to D4vd. His representatives say he is cooperating with the investigation.
D4vd performs as planned at The Fillmore Minneapolis, despite the ongoing investigation around Celeste's death.
Celeste's family create a fundraiser and release a statement, which reads: “As many of you know, Celeste Rivas Hernandez has been identified as the body found last week. She was a beloved daughter, sister, cousin, and friend. Her family is heartbroken and devastated by this tragic loss. Any funds you are able to donate are greatly appreciated.”
More than $24,000 is raised for them.
D4vd cancels the rest of his world tour, and the deluxe version of his debut album is not released as planned.
The Los Angeles medical examiners officer receives a court order preventing any details of Celeste's death from being released to the public.
D4vd is arrested and held without bail.