00:00Today I am announcing the charges against David Anthony Burke in connection with the brutal and horrific murder of Celeste,
00:09a 14-year-old at that time.
00:12The popular New York-born singer David, shot to fame for his hit single Romantic Homicide, was charged with murder
00:18on April 20th after a months-long investigation by the LAPD.
00:22David, real name David Burke, could face the death penalty after being charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances.
00:30Lying in wait, murder of a witness to an investigation, and murder for financial gain in the grisly killing of
00:3614-year-old Celeste Rivas.
00:38He is also charged with lewd and lascivious sexual acts with an individual under 14 years old and mutilating the
00:44human remains of a body.
00:46The charges come just a few days after the singer was taken into custody at his Hollywood Hills home by
00:52the LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division.
00:55Exclusive footage obtained by the California Post showed the performer in cuffs and surrounded by LAPD officers as he was
01:01escorted away from his Hollywood hideout.
01:03New details have also offered a sickening glimpse inside the twisted relationship between the singer and the teen girl he
01:09allegedly sexually abused before allegedly killing her in an effort to hide his own crimes.
01:14Prosecutors laid out a disturbing timeline of the relationship between Rivas and Burke in the years leading up to her
01:20alleged murder in charging documents obtained by the California Post.
01:24On or between September 2023 and September 2024, Burke committed the crime of continuous sexual abuse, who did unlawfully engage
01:31in three and more acts of substantial sexual conduct, according to the documents.
01:35The new timeline suggests Rivas could have been as young as 12 when the alleged abuse happened.
01:40Rivas' dismembered body was discovered in the back of a Tesla belonging to David back in September 2025, after employees
01:48in a tow yard smelled a foul odor coming from the vehicle.
01:51Rivas had been reported missing by her family in April.
01:54Shortly after the body was discovered, David canceled his remaining tour dates and went silent as online speculation continued to
02:01grow around his possible relationship with Rivas,
02:03including photos at the surface of the two together before her disappearance.
02:07As the case continued to develop, more horrifying details emerged about the condition in which Rivas' dismembered body was found,
02:14including the fact that her body parts were dumped in two different cadaver bags within the Tesla.
02:19Cops found Rivas' head and torso in one bag and several body parts in a second bag, with insects swarming
02:25over the remains, according to documents unsealed in a Texas court.
02:29Once Rivas was named as the victim, police jumped into high gear, labeling the case as a homicide investigation.
02:35Cops raided a Los Angeles house where the singer had reportedly been living and seized, quote,
02:40several items of evidence.
02:42The raid on Burke's pad came as connections between the pop star and the dead teen kept piling up online
02:47by internet sleuths.
02:49Screenshots of old messages on David's Discord fan server show he was rumored to be dating a teen named Celeste,
02:55years before Rivas was found dead.
02:57In one disturbing message in the fan chat room apparently dug up by the online detectives,
03:02a user allegedly responded to a post from Burke in 2024, telling him to release the song about Celeste Rivas
03:08Hernandez,
03:09which would have been posted four months after she was reported missing.
03:12Burke, who has not been spotted publicly for months, hired high-powered lawyer Blair Burke,
03:17who previously worked for disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
03:21Shortly after the singer's arrest, Burke's legal team said in a statement that evidence would show that their client
03:26did not murder Rivas and that they would, quote,
03:29vigorously defend David's innocence.
03:31What happens?
03:32To be continued...
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