Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman says D4vd’s defense may propose a plea deal before trial, but prosecutors would only consider an offer they believe delivers justice for Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s family.
“David and his counsel are free to make an offer,” Hochman told NewsNation’s Jesse Weber Live, referring to the singer by his legal name, David Anthony Burke. He added that any proposal would need to “obtain justice for the Hernandez family.”
The singer has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, lewd acts upon a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains in connection with the 14-year-old’s death.
The case remains eligible for the death penalty because prosecutors filed a special-circumstance allegation. Hochman said his office has not decided whether to pursue capital punishment and will consult Celeste’s family before reaching a decision.
In another text exchange included in the transcripts from the #D4vd preliminary hearing, David says his parents are “in town” and uses that as an excuse for not being able to see Celeste. She calls him out for lying, and he then says they are arriving Thursday, which would have… pic.twitter.com/7fxTrQBFxV
— SF INVESTIGATES STEVE FISCHER (@SF_investigates) July 30, 2026
The district attorney said prosecutors plan to present considerably more evidence at trial than they introduced during D4vd’s five-day preliminary hearing.
“We’ll be able to present a lot of the evidence that will rebut the arguments being made by David’s counsel,” Hochman said.
Prosecutors allege Celeste entered D4vd’s home on April 23, 2025, and was never seen alive again. They say Uber records, cellphone information, Tesla data and online purchases support their timeline.
#d4vd is pure devil— they way he sits on a podcast a few days after allegedly murdering #CelesteRivasHernandez within a 20 minute frame of her arrival at his house, is insane to me.
— (@iamlegacy23) July 30, 2026
This interview shows what we need to know about a person like him; a pedo, a narcissist that… pic.twitter.com/0c4kCPQgXm
He is expected to be arraigned in August before the case proceeds toward trial.
