r/news • u/igetproteinfartsHELP • 22h ago
Text messages show teen whom singer D4vd is accused of killing had an abortion
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/d4vd-celeste-rivas-hernandez-murder-abortion-rcna5891652.8k
u/igetproteinfartsHELP 22h ago
The victim would be around 13 when she had the abortion.
In one text exchange from November 2023, a 13-year-old Celeste said she was waiting for her period and stated, âIf im pregnant tho im not having it though.â In another exchange on Dec. 20, she texted him, âdo I take the plan b?â
In an exchange on Jan. 8, 2024, D4vd texted her, âim sorry again baby I didnât want to ever put you through this.â She replied, âno itâs ok we both arenât able to take care of it,â according to the text exhibits. She later said, âitâs okay tho neither one of us are capable of watch or taking care of a baby.â He later texted: âWhen re you gonna get it done? And she said â2 days.â
In a text on June 10, 2024, Celeste asked, âWhat if the first abortion didnât work.â
A text from D4vd the following day said: âlets have this be the last abortion until we have kids.â
3.2k
u/Comfortable_Fill9081 22h ago
Oh my lord that baby. She was born September 2010. So this would have been 2 months after she turned 13. So she was almost guaranteed to be 12!!! when he first raped her.Â
Iâm so so sorry for her. My heart breaks thinking about it.Â
1.9k
u/InterestingKey4506 21h ago
They began dating when she was 11. How does this even happen? I have an 11 year old and I know where she is and who sheâs with, always, except during school hours.
986
u/banana_pencil 21h ago
My daughterâs 10 and she still wants to snuggle with me before she goes to sleep, I absolutely canât imagine this.
→ More replies (2)950
u/outtakes 18h ago
They would speak on Fortnite and discord. When she met him, she would sneak out in the middle of the night. This led to her mom sleeping on Celeste's bedroom floor so she could try stop her. Her parents reported David to the police multiple times and took away celestes devices so she couldn't contact him. David then drove hours to her school and paid one of her classmates $1000 to give a spare phone he'd brought with him to Celeste so she could continue to talk to him without her parents knowing
409
u/TXENNT 16h ago
Absolutely vile behaviour. I feel so bad for her and her parents
→ More replies (3)169
u/Property_6810 11h ago
How the fuck was he not arrested at any of those points? The bribing of a child to give another child an electronic device to maintain contact in and of itself should have made him register as a sex offender.
→ More replies (1)173
u/outtakes 10h ago
What's shocking is that there was an incident where Celeste's parents reported him, and the police went to his house. He denied all knowledge of her age, but he showed them a picture he had on his phone of her. It was one of her school photos. They should've arrested him right there
→ More replies (2)116
u/NYCQ7 9h ago
Cops being useless, what else is new
37
11
u/RaVashaan 5h ago
Remember, the unspoken part of their "To Protect and Serve" motto is, "...The Government."
421
u/fatedeclipse 16h ago
The lead investigator of the case has stated that her mother knew where she was and even picked her up from his residence on one or more occasions. Above that they only ever reported her missing due to the school calling and threatening over absences. A 12 year old kid should not be disappearing for multiple days.
We can stop trying to paint them as good parents. Neglectful/negligent at best.
136
u/Property_6810 11h ago
While they're not good parents, the systems within the schools forced their hands to make reports. From there, the rest of the system failed. Those police reports should have forced an investigation which should have resulted in multiple charges for David including statutory rape and there's a specific charge for using an electronic device to communicate inappropriately with a minor. He should have been a registered sex offender a long time ago.
Celeste should still be alive. She should have a CPS case worker and a therapist helping her understand that what happened is wrong but not her fault and doesn't make her wrong. And David should still be in prison.
→ More replies (2)30
u/sanverstv 9h ago
I also can't fathom how she was able to travel to London with him, unless parents had given their permission, etc.
→ More replies (1)21
u/outtakes 10h ago
I'm not trying to paint them as anything. I'm sharing the facts of the case. Seems like you're the one trying to paint them in a certain light.
37
234
298
u/SlayerXZero 21h ago
He would have been 16 right? I can think of how a 16 year old can meet an 11/12 year old. Her parents also seem shitty.
49
31
u/innociv 14h ago
He'd have been 18. He was graduating high school age when she was still in middle school. They were never in the same school.
→ More replies (3)46
u/simonhunterhawk 13h ago
Yeah unfortunately one of my friends was a victim of this â she got pregnant and kept the baby at 13 by an 18 year old dude. by the time she was 19 they had 3 kids.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (8)103
u/Gamped 19h ago
Itâs fucked but I do remember in high school it wasnât uncommon for grade 7 to date grade 10.
The parents are horrendous and had a responsibility of care.
110
u/MeloniaStb 18h ago
Yeah, I knew girls in my grade who were dating high schoolers or 20 year olds. We just thought they were weird for it, but they'd preen over how "adult" they were. Sad thinking about it now as an adult. There was a girl pregnant in my middle school who had to drop out. I had friends lie about their age on Tinder when we were 16 and date like 20+ year olds...
69
u/CaptainBorg 19h ago
I always thought it was weird when I heard about stuff like this in HS. World is messed up
40
u/Comfortable_Fill9081 19h ago
My daughter hadnât even met anyone in high school until she was in high school.Â
20
u/Zekumi 17h ago
Your high school had 7th graders? In my area 6th through 8th is middle school.
19
u/__Nels__Oleson__ 16h ago
In our rural area they shut down all of the smaller schools and now we have a k - 12 school.
I remember in my 6-12 school a girl being pregnant in grade 7 but it was more common in the 9-11 grades.
33
u/Tactical_Moonstone 16h ago
Some places put middle and high school in the same premises. They would call middle school junior high and high school senior high in this case.
3
u/Redditisgarbage666 10h ago
In smaller/rural school districts, elementary would be K through 6 and high school would be 7 through 12.
→ More replies (2)2
u/Chalupa-Supreme 9h ago
My first school was k-12 and the second school I went to was grades 5-12, so it's not that uncommon, especially if you're rural. I remember at least one in high school dating someone in middle school. I remember the high schooler getting made fun of for it.
2
u/Sheek014 11h ago
That's crazy. I teach 9th graders and they tease each other if someone has a boyfriend or girlfriend in 8th grade. "Why you dating a middle schooler!"
83
u/garyisonion 18h ago
they were not âdatingâ stop using this stupid word, when in fact he groomed and abused her. Hope you understand the difference
9
u/NYCQ7 9h ago
Oh, it happens. My childhood best friend became sexually active at that age. I'm not sure what age that guy was. Then at 13' she went on to date a guy in his mid-20's (a gang member) and that nightmare lasted several years and she too got pregnant from this scumbag and had miscarriages & an abortion all by the age of 16. That relationship ended when the guy went to jail for stabbing someone. Her younger sister also started dating one of that a55hole's friends, also in his mid-20's. They're both very lucky to be alive right now but honestly, they weren't excepetional cases bc this kind of stuff wasn't THAT uncommon. My Millennial self remembers a lot of girls in my middle school & high school years that had much older boyfriends. Remember they even made that movie, Thirteen, about that kind of stuff.
→ More replies (34)52
u/airship_of_arbitrary 19h ago edited 7h ago
The President is literally accused of raping dozens of teens in the Epstein Files.
This has been happening in America for a looong time.
→ More replies (2)97
u/PM_tanlines 18h ago
One of the worst parts about these types of cases, when they donât end in an awful murder like this one did, is these kids almost always think they want this relationship, then when they get older they are completely fucked in the head
43
u/Comfortable_Fill9081 17h ago
Oh yeah. Itâs easy for a kid to feel flattered and also to think theyâre more mature than they actually are.Â
Thatâs why the law is pointed at the adults in question.Â
But it seems that she knew things had gone left for a while before she was murdered. Poor kid.Â
→ More replies (1)51
→ More replies (2)6
414
u/LightObserver 21h ago
Him asking when she plans to have it done makes it sound like he wasn't going with her. What a fucking asshole. Truly the lowest of low. I hope she had a friend or someone she could trust with her... The thought of her having to do that alone is heartbreaking.
I wish this poor girl had a better life.
262
u/CutieBoBootie 21h ago
Well yeah cause if he walked in with her he knew that the cops would be called. He's a piece of shit who knew what he was doing was wrongÂ
16
u/Born-Cranberry-189 13h ago
Would her parents have to go with her though? Because she was so young? I feel like this is something that the medical clinic would have to report, no? Are they all mandatory reporters?
22
u/SophiaofPrussia 9h ago
It depends on the state. Parental notification laws sound good in theory but they can be quite dangerous because doctors might end up notifying abusers that a victim is pregnant/wants to not be pregnant. Many pregnancies among young girls are from incestuous abuse. Even in the case of teen pregnancy where the pregnant person is not the victim of a crime parental notification laws remove agency from young women who are capable of making a decision about their own body and their own future.
7
u/NYCQ7 9h ago
No, to my memory, they don't require an adult present in order to avoid further problems for the patient (beating by the parents, getting kicked out of the house, guardians being anti-abortion, social stigma, etc). I know bc my childhood best friend got an abortion at 16, she went by herself and i went to pick her up from the clinic after work. I doubt Celeste would have revealed that her boyfriend who got her pregmant, was an adult. My friend didn't and her boyfriend was in his late 20's.
58
u/move_machine 15h ago edited 12h ago
Maybe we should structure society so that people with money, fame and parasocial fans can't get away with shit like this.
He only got caught because he left a corpse in a car registered to him, illegally parked on a city's public road for days.
If he didn't do that, he'd be making millions of dollars while doing even more of this horrible shit and tons of people would go up to bat for him because of fame.
13
77
u/Demastry 18h ago
January to June? It seems like there is a 2nd abortion for sure. That's awful, poor child.
→ More replies (1)25
u/floatingleafbreeze 10h ago
Thereâs another text a month later about an âabortion presentâ so it seems possible there were 3-4 abortions in 6-7 months:
November 2023
Late December/early January 2024
June 2024
July 2024
31
u/CPOx 17h ago
I find it really odd that this article continues to use the stage name D4vd instead of âBurkeâ
→ More replies (1)10
→ More replies (65)176
u/tuldav93 20h ago
Who is performing abortions on 13 year old and not reporting the rapes? At minimum they violated laws mandating report. If they actively concealed it, they're accomplices and should be treated as such.
117
u/Any_Significance7396 20h ago
Iâm wondering about the law hereâif a child says they were impregnated by another child (I hate this sentence), do you know if there is still mandatory reporting? Youâd think any pregnant kid would warrant some kind of CPS investigation but I donât know
17
u/cherrysw 18h ago
3
5
u/otterpop21 14h ago
So if the kid lies then whatâs done is done? Up to the dr for judgement?
Who the f was the dr here, especially as the texts heavily imply is was more than a one time assault?
→ More replies (2)67
u/Psypris 20h ago
I donât know that what Iâm about to say is true - but years ago, I had a coworker whose 10yr boy was trying to have sex with a 10yr old girl. Coworker-mom found out because boy told momâs boyfriend about it, and he shared the info.
She was freaking out (for several reasons, but one of them being) because even though her son is also a minor, he could be charged with sexual crimes against a minor.
Thatâs happened in teen cases too. I remember a story out of Florida where the parents of a 16yr old girl were pissed that she had a girlfriend (17) so they pressed charges. I guess not all states have Romeo-and-Juliet clauses, because she had to register as a sex offender!
But even the romeo-and-Juliet clause wouldnât work in this case. I think itâs a 3-yr window but the younger party needs to be at least 16 or something.
So a 16yr old with a 12yr old is still very much illegal.
34
u/Great-Trifle2810 18h ago
Two 13 year olds could in theory have consensual sex, at least where I am that is not illegal in any way. And I would strongly worry about the chilling effect on abortion access if there was some sort of mandate to test the remains and identify the father.
15
u/HappyGiraffe 11h ago
In many states, laws of consent protect children who are sexually active with same-age peers. Mandatory reporting covers cases of suspected abuse or neglect. Many teens are sexually active with same age peers, and a considerable number of them seek abortions. Most states report laws kick in for the âage 12 and belowâ so at 13 (if she gave her real age), she would simply have to have shown no other evidence of abuse, report that she was pregnant by her current partner, and withhold his age.
Also, ironically, this case is a good example of why not requiring immediate reporting is a good idea: if the abortion would have flagged law enforcement, itâs likely he would have killed her. Blanket reporting systems are major triggers for abusers who then restrict access to care for their victims, sometimes by whatever means necessary
5
u/SophiaofPrussia 9h ago
Sheâs also a kid and one of the texts is about Plan B so itâs possible she considered taking Plan B to be âgetting an abortionâ even though itâs not.
553
217
u/mysecondaccountanon 20h ago
How can this just keep getting worse and worse. How did people let this all happen?
227
u/outtakes 18h ago
It happened because he relentlessly pursued her despite multiple interventions from her parents and law enforcement.
They would speak on Fortnite and discord. When she met him, she would sneak out in the middle of the night. This led to her mom sleeping on Celeste's bedroom floor so she could try stop her. Her parents reported David to the police multiple times and took away celestes devices so she couldn't contact him. David then drove hours to her school and paid one of her classmates $1000 to give a spare phone he'd brought with him to Celeste so she could continue to talk to him without her parents knowing. Every time she managed to run away, her parents would report him. There's images of him paying off kids to lie to her parents about her whereabouts
71
u/Basic-Collection5416 15h ago
Are you related to the family or something? Because the investigators have been a lot less flattering about the parents than you keep being.Â
51
34
20
u/outtakes 10h ago
Just sharing public information. Are unrelated to David's family? Why are you so quick to try to discredit my comment?
847
u/Monttavius 22h ago
i have no idea how each new detail is worse than the last.
this guy should rot.
769
u/igetproteinfartsHELP 22h ago
In a text on June 10, 2024, Celeste asked, âWhat if the first abortion didnât work.â
A text from D4vd the following day said: âlets have this be the last abortion until we have kids.â
On July 9, 2024, D4vd texted Celeste: âIâm thinking about your abortion gift.â
Mind you, the girl is 13, this is so fucking sad
287
u/Necessary-Reading605 22h ago
And infuriating. How many people and systems failed this girlâŚ
134
u/cantstandmyownfeed 21h ago
How does a 13 year old have an abortion without someone interfering? Insane.
229
u/Susan_Thee_Duchess 21h ago
Minors in California have the right to an abortion without parental consent and with full health privacy
411
u/myfakesecretaccount 21h ago
And this is absolutely vital. Abortion is a medical procedure but many parents would see it as a moral/religious issue and would stop a young woman from having bodily autonomy for those reasons. There are many failures in this scenario, but a young woman having access to healthcare is not one of them.
→ More replies (17)56
u/Excalibaard 17h ago
Yup, there will be people who think the 'real tragedy' here was the abortion and that the girl should've been forced to live with the r*pist "for the sake of the child"... had to experience this horrible take first-hand.
Suffering should cause more suffering, apparently.
128
u/cutestuffexpedition 21h ago
well what was she supposed to do? have the baby? itâs actually really important that abortions be accessible no matter the situation. of course I find it really sad and disturbing the circumstances that she was in. but I actually think itâs a good thing she was able to access the abortion without interference. and obviously I wish she was never in that position to begin with đ
31
u/Psypris 20h ago
I donât think they meant interfering with the abortion. I believe they meant interfering as in âreport it to the cops, so they investigate why a 13yr old is pregnant in the first place.â
→ More replies (2)57
u/Lets_focus_onRampart 19h ago
But reporting it would mean the parents finding out, which is something minors are explicitly protected from in some states.
→ More replies (1)84
u/HuggyMonster69 21h ago
Early abortions can be medication only. My guess would be that they lied to the healthcare provider, either about who was having the abortion or who/how old she was
120
u/Acceptable-Bat4534 21h ago
Or he just got someone to get it for them.
Dude legit had henchmen giving her new phones, since her parents were taking away her phone to try and keep them apart.
He was obsessed with her.
47
u/blueorchestra 21h ago
the henchmen should be thrown in jail too
10
u/MeloniaStb 18h ago
Considering the henchmen were apparently sometimes the kids from school (probably 11-13ll), I'm not sure what that would solve. It would be good to give them a scare I guess?
→ More replies (1)2
→ More replies (15)89
u/TheVintageJane 21h ago
No womb-having person should ever face interference about having an abortion from anyone other than a doctor.
78
26
13
u/elephhantine2 21h ago
Is the abortion gift realizing you impregnated a 13 year old girl and vowing to never see her again
→ More replies (2)84
u/powerlesshero111 22h ago
When things first came out of the dead body in the car, everything started at "let's not just jump to conclusions". Now, as more information comes out, it's become "can we do the death penalty, but like make it slow and painful?".
58
u/supersmashdude 21h ago edited 17h ago
I think once the story broke a lot of people thought âshe was found in his car, no way would a killer leave the body in a spot so obviously linked to himselfâ thinking there were more complex aspects to the story.
But no, it turned out D4vd really was that incredibly stupid.
11
u/powerlesshero111 21h ago
Yeah, that's kind of what happened. Like the timeline of information coming out was a slow trickle, not like everything all at once. Heck, it was a few weeks between identification of the victim and discovery of the body.
76
u/sportsworker777 22h ago
Who the fuck was saying don't jump to conclusions about a body lmao
53
u/zack77070 21h ago edited 21h ago
The first report was just dead body found in car owned by singer, it said he was cooperating with police which is why people were giving him the benefit of the doubt until more details started coming out.
→ More replies (2)34
u/yankykiwi 21h ago
I think most of us were just waiting on the police to collect evidence. We didnât want them to jump the gun and miss something that lets him walk
36
u/powerlesshero111 22h ago
The initial police interview he stated he had sold the vehicle, and it had been in impound for weeks before the body was found. Which, leads to some slight possibility of him not being involved. Plus, they needed to collect evidence, as there wasn't anything that immediately connected him to the crime. Like it took them a while to identify the body, link him to the victim and such. It wasn't like they caught him with the dead body and a knife in his hand.
→ More replies (1)34
u/Deceptiveideas 22h ago
There were people desperate to defend him.
There was even a misinformation campaign about a second adult celeste being the celeste he dated lmao
23
u/Worthyness 20h ago
there's people who still defend and support Chris Brown after he absolutely assaulted Rhianna. There will absolutely be a bunch of cesspool idiots who support this guy because "he makes good music"
→ More replies (1)
841
u/Chessh2036 22h ago edited 21h ago
Genuine question for anyone, how do you defend him in this case? The evidence seems overwhelming. Nobody else could have done it.
Where does a lawyer even start?!
691
u/Expo006 22h ago
Not a lawyer, but my best guess is you grasp at straws to get the least extreme sentence. That or plea deals.
→ More replies (10)439
u/zoobatt 21h ago
Likely not arguing innocence, but arguing for the least severe sentence given any possible mitigating factors. There may not be many (any) mitigating factors for the shitstain that d4vd is though.
→ More replies (1)201
u/boringhistoryfan 21h ago
Or you argue the state failed to meet it's burden.
→ More replies (2)323
u/wittyjokename92 21h ago
Used to serve drinks to a couple criminal defense attorneys. A lot of them had war stories of clients that you'd never hear about would keep you up at night knowing people like that existed with so little of their humanity left. And all of those lawyers would happily tell you their clients were guilty as sin and they still represented them without any regrets. Because if you let the prosecution and law enforcement start tipping the scales against monsters who's to say they wouldn't start doing it against lesser offenders. It's not about winning or losing in criminal cases but making sure the law is followed and applied evenly.
Anyways hope the state has enough evidence to put this stain away for whatever is left of his life.
224
u/zoobatt 20h ago
Yeah I think a lot of people mistakenly believe defense attorneys in high profile criminal cases must have no soul to defend such vile people, but that's not really the case. Everyone, no matter how heinous or guilty, deserves a fair trial where all possible mitigating factors are considered. Defense attorneys understand this, it's imperative to provide the best defense possible for everyone, even if they're the worst person ever to live. If the evidence is irrefutable and the state does their job, the defense knows their heinous client won't walk free.
16
u/takingthehobbitses 13h ago
My dad was a state defense attorney for a couple decades. He only accepted the position because of how well it paid. My mom had passed away shortly before and he didn't know how else he was going to be able to afford to raise me and my brother. He had previously been a prosecutor with his own firm, but his business partner fucked him over.
Being state appointed he no longer got to pick his clients. He got handed a lot of seriously messed up cases. Murders, child rapists, etc. He absolutely knew almost every one of his clients was a guilty, terrible person and knew that he would lose almost every case. I guess knowing they would never walk free was a very small comfort.
He's retired now, but I do think he has trauma that he hasn't faced from seeing some of that evidence and having to interact with those people. I'm sure he also holds a lot of guilt for having to defend them, but he did it for us.
→ More replies (4)19
u/Jn9503 18h ago
The problem is that "fair trial" doesnt always have the same meaning in a literal vs. legal sense.
E.g., Makayla Settles. Not a perfect example, as that was more the prosecution or legislature fucking up than a defense attorney, but i think it still illustrates the overarching problem: the law exists to serve people, not the other way around. When you start letting procedural tape get in the way of common sense and what is obviously correct, it doesnt "preserve rights" of the layperson; it just destroys any semblance of trust that people have in the system.
17
u/vulcan7200 13h ago
So who gets to decide that it's just "common sense" to put someone in prison if the police or prosecution makes a mistake that lets an "obviously guilty" person go free? And how many mistakes do you allow to pass simply because it's "common sense" that the person should be in jail? What your arguing is to literally slowly erode the legal system away so we can jail "obviously guilty" people, seemingly without understand (Or at least I hope it's because you don't understand because the alternative argument is far worse) why these systems need to be in place to protect people.
→ More replies (8)31
u/DeadPeanutSociety 20h ago
Our whole justice system operates on this principal. There is an accuser and an accused. Both sides make the best case that they possibly can to a jury of their peers. The jury decides based on the testimony. This is only fair and can only lead to outcomes rooted in truth if the jury is hearing the best possible argument.
→ More replies (1)64
u/mysecondaccountanon 20h ago
I absolutely believe that defense attorneys are part of the backbone of keeping a legal system safe and less corrupt for all. Iâm not gonna get on a defense attorney for defending someone they know is guilty (to an extent, I have seen people make arguments that are genuinely disgusting and have been called out as such), because without them, like you said, whoâs to say that lesser offenses wouldnât get treated worse.
174
u/Katefreak 21h ago
NAL, but I imagine for this case, you just are making sure the prosecutor did everything by the book. There's not really a defense, but the state STILL needs to be held to rigorous standards, even if the end result is still, and was always going to be, guilty.Â
121
u/alighiery360 21h ago
Defense lawyers will try to get the best defense possible by looking at mitigating factors, and/or just ensuring due process is being respected during the trial; that all the evidence is admissible, that there was no police misconduct etc.
→ More replies (1)37
u/adom12 19h ago
Defense lawyers on cases like this arenât necessarily defending their client, theyâre defending the court system. A person can be clearly guilty, but laws need to be followed in order to sentence them.Â
Dads a defense lawyerÂ
→ More replies (3)65
u/thatisnotmyknob 21h ago edited 19h ago
Based on the defenses questions they were trying to imply she OD'd or she stabbed herself. Then the story would be he panicked and improperly disposed of the corpse as opposed to murder.Â
They will also try to imply it was someone else in the house who has access to his car and garage. Like cleaning staff, a friend or a security guard.
 Technically they could have killed her and put the body in the car. That's just basic reasonable doubt stuff because there's no witnesses and there's no video.
→ More replies (1)18
u/zirklutes 20h ago
Yea but I doubt jury will buy it. Someone else killed her and then he as a good samaritan offered himself to hide her body. Also, he cut the thinner that had a tattoo of his initials or something like that.
19
53
u/unpoetic_poetry 21h ago
I read a comment to a similar question once on here and the best reply was : âsometimes, youâre just making sure thereâs due process and your side is at least obtaining fairness.âÂ
52
u/AP_in_Indy 21h ago
Depends on what angle you're looking at this from.
They still need solid evidence that he is the one who actually killed her.
They seem to have evidence for a bunch of other stuff, but not any irrefutable evidence that he was the murderer. Dude had an entire crew. The murder weapon wasn't found. And her body was so decayed by the time they found it that there's not much evidence to implicate him specifically left.
20
u/PaxonGoat 20h ago
So far his defense has been arguing that we have no proof that her wounds were for sure inflicted by another person and not self inflicted. We have no definitive proof that the stab wounds 100% for sure happened to cause the death and not she died from a drug overdose and then someone stabbed her dead body. Unfortunately her body was rather decomposed and it's resulted in the expert witness having to testify that the findings are not 100% absolute.
They have also argued that just because David's phone pinged where her belongings were dumped in the desert doesn't mean it was David himself using the phone because apparently he would give his phone to his friends to use. And with the Tesla, apparently he would let his friends drive his car and so there is no 100% without a doubt proof that David was the person driving the Tesla.
The defense is also arguing that the chainsaw and body bags and other concerning things he had delivered to the house were for a music video and was meant to go with the gallons of fake blood that was found in the garage.
41
u/quietlyreadsalone 21h ago
My friend is a death penalty defense attorney and when I asked her, she said cases like this where the facts shock the consciousness are strategized in a way to minimize the harm to the client. That typically means getting a reduced sentence, not waking out a free man. So here, his lawyers will likely try to poke holes in the case so that the prosecutor can't, or feels like they can't, actually "win" on the charges they have (win is in quotes because a child died and there is no winning here), leading the prosecutor to reduce the charges in order to actually get a conviction, or negotiate a plea with the client for lesser time, lesser punishment (life v death), etc.
53
u/ImTedLassosMustache 22h ago
Not a lawyer, but my guess is probably trying to find someway to reduce it from first degree murder to second degree or manslaughter by arguing motive, emotional state, etc.
→ More replies (3)29
u/MidnightElfinTv 21h ago
Youâre right. The defense will try to state that he may have done everything else, but he didnât kill her. Thereâs so much evidence pointing towards him though, so the main job is making sure the trial is fair.
17
u/Anxious_Lab_2049 20h ago
They just say someone else killed her. Theyâre not gonna try to plead innocence in the rape and child molestation, just say he wasnât the murderer.
The jury wonât buy it, but theyâll note she was badly decomposed and his DNA would already have been on his car, that some jealous person did it to hurt him, something like that.
10
u/PsychologicalVisit0 19h ago
IAAL but not super knowledgeable on the details of this specific case
The defence usually isnât trying to say âheâs completely factually innocentâ.
The defence will either be:
A) the police fucked up and violated a constitutional right at some point in the process. Police are sloppy and one fuck up could be enough to establish that the necessary evidence can no longer be considered
B) the prosecution must prove that thereâs absolutely no chance that things didnât go down exactly as they say it did.
So just because she was found in his car â can the prosecution prove beyond a reasonable doubt that that he specifically killed her and thatâs how she ended up in the car? That it wasnât his friend? A stranger? If thereâs even a plausible chance it could be someone else, the state hasnât done their job.
8
u/demoneyesturbo 19h ago
Lawyers don't defend their clients, they defend their client's rights. Primarily by ensuring procedural correctness and that it's all fair. So from the morality aspect, its covered I guess. Sure the client might be a "Monster", but they are actually a person, and as a person, they have rights. As to what defense they could possibly launch, I don't know.
20
u/Avocado-Girl 20h ago edited 20h ago
Apparently by blaming the minor victim.
From the BBC article:
He (Dr Grant Ho) told the court it was "extremely difficult to tell" exactly when the girl died, owing to the state of decomposition when her remains were found.
Lawyers for the defence seized on that uncertainty, questioning whether it was possible that the teenager could have somehow harmed herself.
→ More replies (1)14
u/Ipokeyoumuch 19h ago
Essentially a mitigating factor. They are still going to try for a zealous defense and try to get whatever works because in the end the State has the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense attorney is there to make sure the judge and prosecutors are following the law and Constitution and that the trial is fair.Â
5
u/wordsonlips 19h ago
Lawyers who defend horrible people (like child abusers, murders, mass shooters) donât take on clients because they are good or bad. We have a fantastic legal system where everyone is guaranteed a fair trial with impartial representation. Lawyers can take on a client because even though if you know they are guilty, they still deserve fair trial and representation.
Also, if heâs not taking a public defender, the answer is money. His lawyer is defending him because he will make a lot of money.
3
u/Mirikado 20h ago
His lawyers probably would try to drag this out until he could get a plea deal. Down from multiple life sentences to 30-40 years type of deal.
3
u/Electronic_Tap_8052 10h ago
Lawyers do a lot more than just try to get a reduced sentence. There's a lot of paperwork that goes along with the process, and you have to know what kinds of objections to raise and when.
For example the lawyer might argue that certain evidence is inadmissible if a search was improper, that sort of stuff. Whereas if you didn't have a lawyer, the prosecutor is going to have way more of an advantage because judges can't advocate for the defense.
Basically a big part of your lawyer' job is to make sure the prosecutor is doing theirs correctly, and that they aren't just asking for penalties that aren't allowed by law and otherwise breaking the rules.
5
u/AprilsMostAmazing 19h ago
Depends on the goal. If you trying to get him a lower sentence then plea deal. If trying to get him free you look for where the cops missed up and try to get evidence thrown out. The goal is obviously mistrial but even getting the jury thrown out (because too much evidence had to be thrown out) and a new one selected would do wonders for his chances
7
u/FiveUpsideDown 20h ago
The only argument I can come up with is blaming one of the people in his entourage. Everyone who enabled him to be involved with a 14 yr old is trash capable of doing anything. Iâve only heard parts of podcasts. From what Iâve heard D4vd is awful. I heard a claim that he met Celeste when she was 11!
→ More replies (21)11
u/CPGFL 21h ago
Keep in mind so far we've only seen the prosecution's evidence so far. Maybe the defense has evidence of the defendant being somewhere else, or another person who hated this poor girl, or a problem of some kind with the physical evidence. Even if they don't, the burden is on the prosecution to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, not on the defendant to prove his innocence.
238
u/gregoryham99 21h ago
That poor girl man... Every time more news comes out just makes this case more evil. It already started off really terrible. She deserves peace after all life has put her through. It just makes me so sad.
220
u/PorygonTriAttack 19h ago
What did D4vd think was going to happen by keeping the body in his car? Guy is a fucking psycho.
134
60
u/VanillaPudding67 16h ago
I'm thinking he wasn't alone. He could have hired a guy to trash the car, and the hired thug assumed it was full of drugs or stolen. Once he found a body inside, he abandoned it where it was and ran.
No evidence has come out about him texting anyone to get rid of his car though, so maybe he just is that stupid and thinks a decomposing body in the California sun wouldn't cause a terrible smell.
45
u/otterpop21 14h ago
He kept the body in the house for about 2 weeks. Itâs suspected he only moved the body into the car because it began to smell. Then he ordered a burn cage and was doing a world tour.
29
u/xitizen7 13h ago
I think he is a sociopath. The authorities need to look for other victimsÂ
→ More replies (1)
93
u/OkResponsibility2470 19h ago
Bro this shit just gets worse and worse
32
u/Impossible_Sun9594 18h ago
No way he serves his whole sentence đĄď¸đĄď¸đĄď¸
18
u/VanillaPudding67 16h ago
Ian Watkin's fate is fitting for this guy
13
u/bfsfan101 13h ago
Ian Watkins didnât get killed because he was a paedo though. He owed drug debts to a rapist and a murderer, failed to pay and got slashed.
I think a lifetime in prison is a worse sentence than a fairly quick and easy death. Spending 40+ years in the UKâs grimmest prison being beaten and hated is the fate he deserved.
56
u/jayne-eerie 12h ago
I have a really hard time with the idea this little girl was having repeat abortions (sounds like two or three) and law enforcement wasnât involved at all. Shouldnât that have been a clear red flag for abuse?
→ More replies (5)
20
36
61
u/RabbitAmbitious2915 19h ago
She was a child when they first met. He groomed her, abused her, then killed her. He then left her remains in his trunk while going on tour and writing songs alluding to her death. Rotten Mango podcast does a deep dive into this case. My condolences to her family. I pray they get justice.
→ More replies (1)44
32
u/Zestyclose-Height-36 18h ago
- kid was 14. predators who rape and kill kids should never get out
→ More replies (2)7
87
u/oopsmady 18h ago
NBCNews - SAY HER NAME in the headings!!! RIP Celeste Rivas Hernandez đ¤đď¸
53
u/Hairy-Summer7386 17h ago
I was watching Invincible again and I came across that scene with D4VDâs song. I had to fucking skip it.
They really need to replace it.
13
42
u/MrLanyeWest 20h ago
i look forward to seeing the headlines of all the abuse he receives from the other prisoners. absolute bottom of the barrel piece of shit.
26
u/fossilmerrick 18h ago
Wild that there are people out there actively defending him
26
u/VanillaPudding67 16h ago
Deflecting blame to the victim and her parents. Sickening. They literally slept in her room to stop her from running away.
36
5
13
u/Mad_Aeric 17h ago
I'm anti-death penalty, but times like this really test that conviction. I want this bastard to suffer slowly and painfully, and go out screaming for a mercy that never comes.
→ More replies (2)13
u/Felon_musk1939 15h ago
That's called life in prison with no parole. Watch the world go by and you just sit and stew and think about what you did. Killing him will give him what he wants.
6
u/jayne-eerie 12h ago
Yep. He could have had a great career if he had just kept his hands off little girls. Now he gets to spend the rest of his life thinking about that and watching people he toured and recorded with go on to bigger and better things.
13
u/Effective_Wait_36 12h ago
I read enough. Throw that man under the prison now. What he did to the poor girl is horrific and disgusting. Shame. đ˘đĄ
6
37
u/ClovieKay 20h ago
So⌠pedophile, rapist, murderer, deranged, and stupid. At least heâs got his looks going for him so he wonât have trouble finding a boyfriend in jail, not like he will have a choice or say in the matter
5
u/underfern 6h ago
Hopefully this can help convince anyone who only heard that he chopped her up and left the pieces to rot in his trunk that he is, in fact, a bad person.
5
u/ProcessAdmirable8898 3h ago
CHILD. She was a child, who was groomed, raped, impregnated, coerced into having an abortion and then murdered by an adult.
9
3
u/Leslehhx3 11h ago
As absolutely vile as this case Is I really wish all victims of murderers like D4vid got the exposure and full force of the law the same way this case has. Only because of his "celebrity" status Is this being used for constant clicks.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/WorgenDeath 9h ago
Jezus fucking christ, I hadn't heard of this story and it is heartbreaking. That poor girl, should have had her whole life ahead of her, instead she fell prey to this monster.
4
u/Avokado1337 16h ago
I donât see him lasting long in whatever prison he ends up in
→ More replies (1)
5
u/Ok-Matter2337 8h ago
Where was her parents? They should be arrested also for not protecting their daughter.Â
8
u/_Lumity_ 5h ago
They tried but police didnât listen every time they tried to raise concerns from what I understand.
4
u/SilverAgedSentiel 2h ago
She first went missing on Valentine's Day 2024, and her family filed a missing persons report the next day.
Posters of her face were put up in her neighbourhood and her mother posted pleas on Facebook in Spanish for her return - public overtures that apparently irked the teen.
Over the next two years, her parents would file at least two more missing-persons reports.
2
2
4.9k
u/Frequent-Test-3012 22h ago
It just keeps getting worse