World
Prosecutors say singer D4vd stabbed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez to death to silence her
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors said Wednesday that singer D4vd killed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez by stabbing her multiple times then dismembered her body using chain saws in his garage.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office shared what they said the evidence in the case would show in a court filing that provided the first detailed allegations of the killing and efforts to cut apart Rivas Hernandez’s body and get rid of evidence.
The court filing said D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, met Rivas Hernandez when she was 11, began sexually abusing her when she was 13 and he was 18, and killed her when she threatened to reveal their inappropriate relationship.
“Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened, very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out,” the filing said.
Burke has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other counts. His lawyers have said he is innocent and did not cause Rivas Hernandez’s death.
Her body was found decomposing in a Tesla towed from the Hollywood Hills in September of last year.
Prosecutors said they had obtained text messages that showed their sexual relationship, including child sexual abuse images of her on his phone.
“The messages reveal the victim’s jealousy over defendant’s relationships with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together,” the document says. “She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life.”
The filing said he sent a rideshare car to pick her up on the night of April 23, 2025, from her hometown of Lake Elsinore some 80 miles (129 km) outside of Los Angeles. The two exchanged messages until she arrived at his Hollywood home, after which her phone went silent permanently.
They allege he sent her a late-night message asking where she was in an attempt to cover up the killing.
The court filing is intended to outline the evidence that prosecutors plan to present at a preliminary evidentiary hearing beginning May 26, when a judge will determine whether there is probable cause to go to trial. The defense has not publicly provided its version of events.
The document says Burke bought two chain saws online used them to cut apart her body in an inflatable pool in his garage, where the girl’s DNA was later found.
“Defendant took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim’s body,” prosecutors said in the brief.
Burke drove to Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northwest of his home to get rid of evidence three times, the document alleges. Her passport was found there in January.
On April 24, the day after her death, he gave a radio interview and had a record-release party promoting his debut full-length album, “Withered,” which was released the following day, prosecutors said in the filing.
Prosecutors allege he kept her body in his Tesla, and lied to friends and business associates who asked about the smell.
The body of Rivas Hernandez had so degraded that examiners couldn’t even determine her eye color. She had braces at the time of her death, and a tattoo that read “Shhh ….” on the inside of a finger as well as his name, according to the report. Two fingers were missing — as were parts of her arms and legs.
Prosecutors had not previously described how they believed Rivas Hernandez was killed or given details on their relationship. An autopsy report said she was killed by penetrating wounds.
Prosecutors said the parents of Rivas Hernandez reported her missing from her home in Lake Elsinore in February 2024. After the February report, Riverside County Sheriff’s detectives contacted Burke, but he told them he had only met her once and did not know she was a minor.
After she returned home that February, her parents took away her cellphone but Burke drove to her hometown and paid a friend of Rivas Hernandez $1,000 to give her a phone so they could communicate.
She was reported missing again in April 2024. The document said that year, she spent much of her time at Burke’s home in the Hollywood Hills and traveled with him to Las Vegas, London, and Texas to meet his family.
The defense attorneys asked Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo at a hearing Wednesday to seal the document, but she declined. They had no comment outside court.
Burke was arrested on April 16 and pleaded to first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a dead body. He is eligible for the death penalty, but prosecutors said they have not decided whether to seek it.
The singer began making music for YouTube videos he created of the video game Fortnite when he was a teenager.
The songs he wrote and recorded on his phone were a blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. The music made him a phenomenon on TikTok, Instagram, Soundcloud and Spotify, where his top songs, including his 2022 breakthrough “Romantic Homicide,” have more than a billion plays. In 2023, he released two EPs and opened for SZA on tour.
He performed at last year’s Coachella music festival just a few weeks before prosecutors said Rivas Hernandez was killed and his album was released. He was on tour promoting it in September when the body was discovered and his name became publicly attached to the case. It would be seven months before he was arrested.
World
Judge orders mental health evaluation for the woman accused of attempting to murder Rihanna
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge on Tuesday paused the prosecution of a woman charged with the attempted murder of Rihanna and more than a dozen other felonies and sent the case to a mental health court that will determine whether she is competent to stand trial.
At a Los Angeles meeting held in a judge’s chambers, Deputy Public Defender Derek Dillman said he had doubts over the mental competence of his client, 35-year-old Ivanna Lisette Ortiz of Orlando, Florida, court documents showed. Ortiz has pleaded not guilty to firing at the house of Rihanna, her partner A$AP Rocky and their children while all of them were home.
Judge Shannon K. Cooley ordered psychiatric evaluations and temporarily transferred the case to a Hollywood mental health court that specializes in determining whether defendants can understand the proceedings and go through a trial.
“It is the ethical obligation of counsel and the court to ensure that Ms. Ortiz’s rights are protected, including being able to assist counsel in conducting a defense in a rational manner,” Dillman said in an email to The Associated Press.
Prosecutors declined comment.
If she is found incompetent, she could be held indefinitely in a state hospital until she is able to face the charges. She is set to appear June 2 in the same courtroom where a judge recently found that a man accused of stalking Jennifer Aniston was incompetent to stand trial.
At a hearing a week earlier, Cooley had declined to pause the process for mental health evaluation, and Ortiz objected, saying she wanted the case to proceed on the path to trial. She did not appear in court on Tuesday. Cooley ordered that she should continue to be held on nearly $2 million bail.
Police and prosecutors allege that on March 8, Ortiz pulled up in a Tesla to the Beverly Hills-area property of the singing superstar Rihanna and her rapper partner A$AP Rocky, pointed an AR-15 style rifle out the window and sprayed at least 20 bullets toward the property and a neighboring house. No one was injured.
Shots hit an Airstream trailer that Rihanna and Rocky were inside, according to police interviews with the couple. Investigators found bullet holes in the trailer and on the exterior wall of the home’s second-floor nursery, where the three kids were with their nanny.
Investigators said that after her arrest later that day, Ortiz told them “I wasn’t attempting murder,” according to a police report.
Ortiz is charged with 10 counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, one for each of the people on the two properties. She’s also charged with three counts of shooting at an occupied vehicle or dwelling.
Ortiz had no prior police record, authorities said. Public records show she had been a licensed speech pathologist for more than a decade.
Authorities have not discussed a motive or described any connection between her and Rihanna.
A nine-time Grammy Award winner, Rihanna has 14 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including “We Found Love,” “Work,” “Umbrella” and “Disturbia.”
World
WHO head ‘deeply concerned’ over ‘scale and speed’ of Ebola spread, says emergency committee will meet
WHO issues WARNING after DEADLY ebola outbreak
The CDC is coordinating the ‘safe withdrawal’ of at least six Americans exposed to a deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo after the WHO declared a global health emergency.
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The head of the World Health Organization announced a meeting of his emergency committee regarding the “scale and speed” of the Ebola outbreak in the Congo and Uganda on Tuesday.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cited data saying there have been over 500 suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in recent weeks, and 33 confirmed cases. There have been two confirmed cases in Uganda. The outbreak has seen a total of 131 fatalities.
“I’m deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic,” Tedros said in a Tuesday statement.
Tedros is meeting with the WHO’s Emergency Committee later Tuesday.
US ISSUES URGENT TRAVEL WARNING AS DEADLY EBOLA OUTBREAK SPREADS OVERSEAS
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, speaks during an event. (Lian Yi/Xinhua via Getty Images)
There are several factors that have made the WHO concerned about the potential for further spread, such as cases in urban areas, including Kampala, Uganda, and Goma in the DRC, as well as the conflict-affected province of Ituri.
The WHO has approved $3.9 million in emergency funding to support national authorities as they respond to the outbreak.
The WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency on Sunday, and the U.S. issued an urgent travel warning for the DRC shortly after on Monday.
UGANDA STARTS CLINICAL TRIAL OF VACCINE FOR SUDAN STRAIN OF EBOLA AMID NEW OUTBREAK
A health worker sprays disinfectant on a colleague after working at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, eastern Congo, on Sept. 9, 2018. (Al-hadji Kudra Maliro/AP)
Officials said the outbreak was caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus, a rarer variant for which existing vaccines may be less effective.
The State Department warns that Ebola is a “rare, severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever illness.”
The virus can spread through direct contact with infected individuals, bodily fluids, infected corpses and objects contaminated with the virus.
CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER DESCRIBES UNCERTAINTY AFTER 3 DEATHS AMID HANTAVIRUS PROBE
“The U.S. government is unable to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Ituri province,” the advisory noted. “Do not travel to this area for any reason.”
Pictured is the MV Hondius, the cruise ship tied to a hantavirus outbreak after a stop in Argentina that left three passengers dead. (Europa Press Canarias via Getty Images)
The development comes as global health officials continue monitoring a rare hantavirus outbreak tied to the MV Hondius cruise ship, which left multiple passengers and crew members sick, and caused three deaths.
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As of May 13, the WHO said 11 hantavirus cases had been identified in connection with the cruise outbreak, including eight confirmed cases, two probable cases and one inconclusive case.
Fox News’ Andrea Margolis and Michael Sinkewicz and Reuters contributed to this report.
World
Jones, Jackson move to Republican primary run-off in Georgia governor race
Published On 20 May 2026
Burt Jones and Rick Jackson have advanced to a run-off in Georgia’s Republican primary for governor, extending a bruising fight over who will represent the party in November’s midterm election.
Jones, Georgia’s lieutenant governor, and Jackson, a healthcare billionaire, will face each other again in the June 16 run-off after neither secured enough support to win the nomination outright following voting on Tuesday.
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The winner will seek to replace Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who is barred by term limits from running again.
US President Donald Trump endorsed Jones last year, and Jones thanked him on Tuesday night. A victory for Jones would strengthen Trump’s influence in Georgia, a key battleground state where his record as a political kingmaker has been mixed.
Democrats are also choosing their nominee as they try to win the governor’s office for the first time since 1998.
The Democratic field includes former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Republican Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, former state Senator Jason Esteves and former state labour commissioner Mike Thurmond.
Jasmine Clark secures nomination in key Georgia House race
Separately, Democrat Jasmine Clark won her party’s nomination on Tuesday to succeed late Representative David Scott in Georgia’s 13th Congressional District after Scott died in April while seeking another term.
Clark, a state representative, microbiologist and lecturer at Emory University, has pledged to prioritise science policy in Congress. Her campaign was boosted by more than $2m in outside spending from cryptocurrency-linked groups, although Clark said she did not seek their support.
She is expected to be heavily favoured in November’s election, where Jonathan Chavez is set to become the Republican nominee after running unopposed in the primary.
Meanwhile, two-term Representative Mike Collins advanced to the Republican run-off in Georgia’s US Senate race.
Collins, 58, who owns a family trucking business and represents a district east of Atlanta, has closely aligned himself with Trump and describes himself as a “MAGA workhorse”. Immigration enforcement has been a central focus of his campaign.
Georgia Republicans are seeking a challenger to Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff.
Among Collins’s rivals, representative Buddy Carter has highlighted his conservative record in Congress, while former college football coach Derek Dooley has presented himself as a political outsider.
Millions poured into Georgia governor race
More than $125m has been spent on advertising in the Republican primary for Georgia governor, with more than $66m of that spent by Jackson’s campaign, according to the latest figures from advertising-tracking firm AdImpact. By contrast, Democrats running for governor have only spent about $4m.
Jones argues that his conservative record as a state senator and lieutenant governor, combined with Trump’s support, should make him the clear choice for Republican voters.
“I think Georgia just spoke, y’all,” Jones said at his election night party.
“The reason why I know we’re gonna win is because of friends and family members,” he said.
Jackson is betting that his outsider pitch will win over anti-establishment conservatives. On Tuesday night, he called Jones a political insider who is “working inside the system for his own benefit”.
“I cannot be bought, and I will not back down,” Jackson said.
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