Did D4vd have accomplices? Lawsuit takes aim at his inner circle

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

A word of warning. This podcast explores graphic and disturbing stories and includes some strong language. It therefore may not be suitable for our young listeners or other folks who may find it disturbing.

Alison Triessl (0:12)

Hello to everybody, and welcome to True Crime News The Podcast.

This podcast covers both high-profile cases and those that are under the radar from across the country every single week. I'm Alison Triessl. I'm a criminal defense attorney and legal analyst. And this week, I'm filling in for your host, Ana Garcia. And I'm so excited. It's tough to fill Ana's shoes, but I'm going to give it a try. Our case this week, a singer accused of a violent slang and dismemberment of a teenage girl. We're talking about the David case. We're going to talk about things that you maybe already know, but a lot that you don't. And we're going to get an inside perspective, both from me as a criminal defense attorney and also from our guest today, Melissa McCarty. She's a journalist. She's an author. She's a dear friend of the show. And I cannot wait to hear what she has to say because she also talks about the psychology behind those that commit crimes and the victims who unfortunately suffer at these people's hands. So I want to jump right in, Melissa, just to give our listeners and our viewers some basic understanding of the case if they haven't heard about it.

Since we've really covered this in any depth, a lot of things have happened, including the preliminary hearing. And the preliminary hearing, Melissa, from my perspective, was as gruesome as they come.

It was a lengthy preliminary hearing. It divulged much more than preliminary hearings where the standard is very low. All the prosecutor has to prove is that a crime has been committed and that this person may be responsible for it. It's much lower than beyond a reasonable doubt. But the prosecutor in this case, Beth Silverman, who's a very fierce DA, she's someone that I know quite well.

She is known as the sniper for her very aggressive tactics. She was the district attorney in the Grim Reaper case that people may be aware of. She tries most of her cases on the ninth floor of the criminal courts building downtown, and it is very well known for covering high-profile cases and the most serious violent, heinous felonies.

And then she goes up against some of the best well-known female, which I love, defense attorneys in the country, in Blair Burke and Marilyn Brudelsky. So let me talk a little bit about David for those that don't know. And Melissa, if there's something that you'd like to add, please do at any point because I want this to be a robust conversation. And you're here because you have a lot to add.

Melissa McCarty (3:44)

So thank you, Alison. Yeah, thank you. I just want to do a quick mention with the prosecutor. They made a statement after the prelim saying that this was just a sliver of the amount of evidence that they have. So if this is already what we've been seeing in the preliminary hearing, a sliver, I can only imagine in its totality once it's presented at trial.

Alison Triessl (4:05)

Right. I mean, here's the thing about the preliminary hearing. The defense really didn't waive time, which in a murder case, they normally do. These preliminary hearings aren't held for a year or more, and the defense wanted to push this through preliminary hearing thinking that the people wouldn't have their case set to go, and boy, were they wrong. Boy, were they wrong. I want to start, by the way, these are allegations. David is innocent until proven otherwise, and I think that our listeners need to hear that. I'm going to use the word allegedly a lot, because everybody has a right to be presumed innocent until convicted at trial. But here is what the prosecution and law enforcement, this is their case, this is what they have presented at the preliminary hearing, and these are the facts as they present them. So David is a singer, he was born David Anthony Burke, Let's go to the next question. What is the effect of the death penalty to the brutal killing and dismemberment of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez? As the case hurdles toward trial, Celeste's family is pressuring the prosecutor's office to pursue the death penalty. Meanwhile, a civil suit has been filed by the family as of September 10th. Of 2026, and their allegations are that. many insiders in David's orbit knew about this, and that's why in addition to suing David, they have also listed his mother, his manager, and his security guard in their civil suit.