Criminal Charges Expected TODAY Against Singer D4vd, As Victim’s Family Speaks Out

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey, folks, it is Monday, April twenty eth the day that LA prosecutors have a decision to make charge Singer David with murder or let him walk out of jail. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ.

00:00:17
Speaker 2: Roholds.

00:00:18
Speaker 1: That is a fairly simple, but I think accurate way of putting what they are up against. We talking about it all these months after this investigation, he finally gets arrested and wait a minute, he might walk out today.

00:00:30
Speaker 2: It's confusing because typically when someone's arrested, they are charged with a crime that did not happen in the case of Singer David or David Anthony Burke, which is his legal given name, and it's a little puzzling because, yeah, it's been seven months since police found the body, the dismembered and badly decomposed body of fourteen year old Celestrievus Hernandez. So it's taken some time. They've convened to grand jury, they've had plenty of time to take a look at the evidence in the case, which has been thoroughly investigated, and still there aren't charges. And there are reports that the LAPD got that up with the DA's office and said, you know what, we're just going to arrest this guy, and we're going to set the clock ticking, and the District's Attorney's office will have four days, give or take to decide whether or not they're going to charge him officially with any crime connected to the death of celestirevs. Fernandez.

00:01:28
Speaker 1: And that's where we're landing with today. Something needs to happen, right, has to happen. Something has to happen today. Oh, you talk about the investigation robes. Everybody anticipated he was going to get arrested at some point. I'm plenty of people in the public. Yes, let the police do their investigation. But wait a minute, dead girl found in his car. He has this connection, Like, what are you waiting on? Obviously they took a while to get their ducks in a row, but here we are. We thought they had them in a row. Robes, Something must be going on, because you don't want a rift, which seems to be pretty public, between these two agencies that are supposed to be prosecuting a murder. This is not a good sign.

00:02:07
Speaker 2: And don't forget the Medical Examiner's office. I don't know where they fit in the in the makeup of how all these different organizations are divided, and certainly they seem to be divided on multiple levels. But the Medical Examiner's Office has already spoken out upset at the police department or the DA's office for silencing them, for not allowing them to release the cause of death, which we still don't have. By the way, they said that it's likely homicide. But that's as close as we've gotten to any sort of definitive outcome on what happened to this young woman. But today at ten a m. Pacific time, we may finally get some answers.

00:02:47
Speaker 1: Look, they have to they have to release some information. This is now going to have to enter public records. So no matter what robs we are going to when quite frankly, it seems to be going to learn more about this case today than we have known the past seven months.

00:03:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, and this has been a case obviously that has been of national interest, but specifically to the Rivas family who has been waiting. Can you just imagine seven months waiting for word. So today we understand that La DA and the LAPD are going to actually come together. So whatever riffs they've had, they are going to hold a joint press conference This is at one pm Eastern time ten am Pacific time to discuss the case. And we're also told that Celeste's family is expected to make their first public statement through their attorney outside of the courthouse after this press conference. So we're going to get word from official word from police and the DA's office, and then we're going to hear directly from the family. And they have been very measured. They have not spoken out very much. We've gotten a few pieces of information through their attorney following the arrest of singer David, but basically they've just said that they're certainly waiting for justice. They are ensuring that Celest's voices heard. Reportedly, her father Jesus Rieva said thank God, justice for Celest once he heard that singer David was arrested. But still charges have to follow that arrest for any sort or semblance or sense of justice for this family. But there are most legal experts believe charges will be found. We just don't know if they'll be murder charges.

00:04:34
Speaker 1: That's the thing I mean, what oh I mean, this is we wait, But my goodness, it doesn't seem like the police would do this without some kind of a heads up to the DA that was this was coming. Well, they certainly, and we know the history of how they handle cases there in southern California. They do a lot of high profile celebrity stuff and roses, And I just can't imagine they would arrest him with any chance that they'd have to turn and right around and let him out, the guy that you all say killed a fourteen year old girl. They had to have been in better concert than I hear you.

00:05:10
Speaker 2: But this is so unusual that they wouldn't have coordinated that with the DA's office at the time of the arrest, so that charges could basically follow immediately. That's typically what we see happen on Thursday. He was arrested Thursday evening. By Friday morning, you would have expected an arraignment, hearing charges, official formal charges to be filed. That didn't happen. So reportedly, behind the scenes this weekend, the DA's office was furiously scrambling trying to figure out what charges they felt comfortable with pursuing, if any at all. And that's the questionable situation. Also of note, this grand jury that was convened in November of last year reportedly spent several months listening to evidence, and it's unclear why. But so far that grand jury has not handed down indictments against David. That's interesting too. It's very confusing because yes, on its face, it seems like this is I hate to use the word slam tunk. I know that's not anything a prosecutor wants anyone to say about their case. But in this situation, it seems like all the evidence points in exactly one direction, and in one direction only, and that's squarely at singer David.

00:06:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, where does evidence though? What can they prove? Robes? We were fascinated when they released her body to the family and we had said, well, I guess they are done with whatever investigation and have figured out all they need to figure out what if we were confused? So we actually thought charges might be coming soon after that, but they never did. That was a while back, So now there's a question mark Romes. What can they prove? Do they have enough? I mean circumstantially, it seems like it's all there. But all we know is she's dead, she knew him, and she was in his car. Okay, that does not prove a case rohaps This is a long time coming. This was one of the most fascinating cases of the year last year. This along with the coach Travis Turner that disappeared, Martha Nolan who disappeared excuse me, she was killed. This David was one of those cases. And to think we're waiting all this time to get all the answers we anticipate getting today, but we could also get that he's not being charged. That just doesn't seem possible.

00:07:27
Speaker 2: Look and when you hear Leele, experts will say, yes, you could possibly tie him to maybe even the disposal of even maybe the dismemberment of her body. But until we understand the manner of death and what type of evidence that police have been able to collect that would connect him to the murder of Celeste Reves Fernandez, that is the sticking point. That's the tough part about this Because it had been so long before police found her body, her body was badly deco post That means forensic evidence is also corrupted or maybe even not present after all that time. So this is even though it seems like an easy case when you look at it from the outside looking in, when you actually really dig into the facts and what they have to work with, it is difficult to prove a murder. And when you hear David's attorney statement, they vehemently and specifically deny his involvement in her murder. And that is interesting when you hear his What was your reaction when you heard his attorney statement? That isn't a typical defense of a defendant.

00:08:38
Speaker 1: No, they said he did not do this, period, point blank. It's not just a matter of facts come out and there are some untruths, and they use all kinds of odd words to say that we need to be to figure this out. We don't usually hear them just flat out say one hundred percent he is innocent and he is not responsible for death. I think there was some weird li anguage in there about didn't cause her death or but they just flat out, flat out said he didn't do it. And I thought that was a very direct response.

00:09:10
Speaker 2: Yes, and so actually I have the exact wording of what they put out right after his arrest. They said, let us be clear. So to your point, yes, they made it very clear in their first sentence, let us be clear. The actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder ce Les Reevus Hernandez, and he was not the cause of her death. Yes, that is an interesting way to put it. They went on to say, there has been no indictment return by any grand jury in this case, and no criminal complaint filed. David has only been detained under suspicion. We will vigorously defend David's innocence. And so it is fascinating to think, after all this back and forth, after all the speculation, we are finally going to get some answers today this afternoon, and to think, like how much we've been on the edges of our seat. I can only imagine and what must be going on in the Celesti Revus hernandez is family and the neighbors and the folks and the people who loved her that she just looking to see. She went missing when she was thirteen, seventh grade. She's been missing since she was in seventh grade. That is incredibly tragic for anyone, and then to have this be the outcome is just the worst case scenario for this family. So when we come back, we're going to talk a little bit about some of the reaction and the plans of the Revus Hernandez family with these new developments and we'll get you caught up on the background of this story and welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ. This is a big day for anyone who has been following the David case, the mystery surrounding the death of fourteen year old celest Revus Hernandez. Her badly decomposed body and dismembered body was found in the front trunk of David's tesla, and we have been waiting for seven months. Her family has been waiting for seven months for news of charges to be filed, and that is happening today. The LAPD said this about what's happening today. They said, we're going to wait and see what happens with the filing, meaning they're waiting for the DA to file charges or not. And then they said whatever we can release to the public, will release. And that's a big deal because we have gotten almost zero information since the beginning of this investigation. And perhaps that is kudos to the LAPD who has learned the hard way, and plenty of high profile cases that leaks cause problems for your cases when you go to court, and so it has been a tightly sealed case. The medical examiner's office hasn't even been allowed to reveal a cause of death at this point, and so we may finally be getting our first bit of information about what police know, what prosecutors are going to do about what police know when it comes to But he has been behind bars for the past four days awaiting his fate.

00:12:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, no bail for him. But like we said, today is the day. And I just can't imagine rope they they did this and they're going to let this guy go. Just that would not be a good look.

00:12:17
Speaker 2: No, it would not, and it wouldn't seem like anyone who want egg on their face when it comes to this. When they've taken this long to bring charges, you would think they would at least have spent the last four days making sure they do have in fact, all their ducks in a row. But when news of David's arrest became public late Thursday evening, it was pretty remarkable to see the place the family, the neighborhood where Celeste grew up and lived before she disappeared at the age of thirteen, but a makeshift memorial has been growing outside of her home. They put electric candles out spelling Celeste, but flowers, Teddy bears, and obviously you've got news vehicles and reporters descending once again on that neighborhood, on that street where Celeste grew up. And I have to say it's been pretty remarkable. Her family has not spoken out, Her family has been quiet, her family has respected the legal process. And you can imagine how hard that must be. You'd want to say something, you'd want to be frustrated by how long it's taking for charges to be made. But they have stayed solidarity, like they'd stayed in solidarity in their quiet, like they have not spoken out, and neither of police. It's been pretty remarkable to watch.

00:13:31
Speaker 1: I don't know what's going on, and we none of us really do in that family. But this girl's life was a tragedy before we ever knew her name and what they had been described, the number of times she had gone missing, and just a home life and some challenges that nobody it's eleven, twelve, thirteen, should have. So yes, it ended the way it ended, which is the worst way imaginable, But this was a tragedy and worth paying attention to, even before we knew her name.

00:14:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and a lot has been written now about who she was. She was a good student, She was a bright student. You mentioned she had run away three times, so the third time was the final time she had run away, and again just a seventh grader leaving home and missing. Flyers with her face were everywhere, but no one put two and two together. And look, there's a lot of mystery surrounding the relationship between David and this young girl, matching tattoos on their index fingers. There have been a couple videos circulating online, a live stream, a couple of pictures, one of them of her reportedly behind the scenes at one of his big concerts. And this was a young man twenty one years old now but twenty at the time of her death, was about to embark on was starting his world tour. This is a guy who rose to fame on TikTok four million followers. And look our young daughters, mine, aren't that young? Your young daughter, My older dog knew him and knew his name. And he was a budding big time artist where he had a huge, bright future ahead of him.

00:15:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, with his hit Romantic Homicide. Yes, some of his music did include some violent imagery and lyrics about relationships and them being violent and having violent ends. Look, look that's just there. Yeah, not trying to say that makes him guilty of something, but that connection obviously is being made. So yeah, a lot of he was an up and coming and had done this on his own. I was really impressed he started making music because he got tired of being busted using everybody else's music when he was doing stuff online playing a video game and he was trying to put other people's music underneath. He kept getting hit with your violating whatever licensing policy and started making his own music and rose rose to success robes and to think he was talented enough. That is an impressive story. So he's not guilty of anything at this moment, and we got to keep that in mind as well.

00:16:07
Speaker 2: It's true, and look, that is a very important point to make. And again, his attorneys vehemently deny that he had anything to do with the murder of Celeste or was in any way, shape or form the cause of her death. But it was a great, beautiful story the American dream, a young man making it on his own, not because he had some big recording label behind him, but because he was hustling on his own, doing it his way. And it was he had been written about. He was starting to become a name that people looked for and downloaded his music. So this is certainly not the ending of a story that he imagined or that his family imagined for him. But we will find out more about where this story is headed next, if he will in fact be charged with murder, if he will be staying behind bars, if an arraignment hearing is coming after this press conference. There are a lot of unknowns, but you know we will be watching today one pm Eastern time, ten am Pacific time. Please check out our feed because we will have an update for you on what happens to singer David today. And with that, everyone, thank you so much for joining us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ. Holmes. We will talk to you soon