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(LOS ANGELES) — A highly anticipated dayslong preliminary hearing in the murder case against the singer D4vd is set to get underway in Los Angeles on Tuesday, with evidence and testimony to be presented in court for the first time.

D4vd — whose legal name is David Burke — was arrested and charged in April with the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez following a monthslong investigation. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that include first-degree murder, sexual abuse of a child and unlawful mutilation of human remains.

The preliminary hearing is expected to last three to seven days, with prosecutors seeking to establish probable cause to move forward with a trial.

Prosecutors allege that D4vd and Rivas Hernandez began a sexual relationship in 2023, when he was 18 and she was 13, and that she was threatening to expose their illegal relationship and ruin his career if he would not be exclusive to her.

Just as tickets for his world tour were set to go on sale, it is alleged that the “Romantic Homicide” singer ordered an Uber that brought Rivas Hernandez to his Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, prosecutors said in a nine-page brief filed days after D4vd’s arrest. That was the last time she was seen alive, according to prosecutors.  

Prosecutors allege that D4vd stabbed the teen multiple times, watching her bleed out, and then undertook a series of events to dismember her body, including ordering two chainsaws on Amazon.

“In order to distance himself from the victim, he amputated her left ring and pinky fingers because her ring finger contained a tattoo of his name,” prosecutors wrote in their brief, noting that her fingers have not been found.

Her badly decomposed remains were found in two body bags in the front trunk of D4vd’s Tesla four months later, in September 2025, according to prosecutors.

The brief was filed to “assist the court in understanding the scope and relevance of evidence the prosecution intends to present at the preliminary hearing,” prosecutors wrote.

During his arraignment in April, D4vd’s attorney, Blair Berk, asked for a preliminary hearing as soon as possible, saying she believes the evidence will show that he did not murder Rivas Hernandez and that they would “like to be able to have the evidence come into the light of day at the earliest opportunity.”

D4vd has been held on no bail since his arrest.

His attorneys said they plan to “vigorously defend David’s innocence.”

“The actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death,” his attorneys — Berk, as well as Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter — said in a statement following his arrest.

An attorney for Rivas Hernandez’s family said in April that the family has decided not to make any future statements “in light of the gruesome details emerging almost daily.”

“There are no words to express the indescribable pain the family is experiencing right now,” the attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, said in a statement. “They still have bills to pay and jobs they go to every day. All they want is time to grieve and heal.”

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(NEW YORK) — The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are bracing for a new round of severe storms and possible flash flooding on Tuesday after getting hammered by heavy rain on Saturday.

The greatest threat — a level 3 out of 5 risk — will span from northeastern Kentucky to New Jersey, including Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Numerous severe thunderstorms with potentially destructive winds and tornadoes are possible in this region.

Flash flooding will be a concern for a large swath of the Interstate 95 corridor, from D.C. to Philadelphia to New York City.

Flood watches have been issued for Tuesday, from Delaware to southern New York, where rainfall rates could exceed 1 inch per hour, potentially triggering flash flooding, especially in urban areas. This includes Philadelphia and New York City.

There is growing concern for slow-moving thunderstorms bringing torrential rain in some areas on Tuesday, possibly unfolding by the late morning or early afternoon.

The storms are expected to last throughout the day.

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(NEW YORK) — A man described as an “anti-government extremist” set off an “incendiary device” to set a fire outside a Manhattan federal building that houses an immigration court, the FBI said, leaving three with minor injuries.

Andrew Arrabaca, 43, allegedly poured gasoline onto the ground outside 26 Federal Plaza and ignited it with a lighter and a large firework in a canister on Monday morning, FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle said.

He also allegedly “pulled out an airsoft rifle and fired five to seven pellets” in the direction of 26 Federal Plaza, Barnacle said.

Arrabaca “is an anti-American, anti-government extremist,” Barnacle said.

After Arrabaca’s arrest “he did say he was targeting the building and he was OK if he hurt or killed people going in and out of the building, whether they were federal employees or civilians,” Barnacle said.

Two government employees and one civilian suffered minor injuries, Barnacle said, noting that the civilian victim was an immigrant there for an immigration hearing.

Arrabaca — described by the Department of Homeland Security as an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement “rioter” — was apprehended by officers, Barnacle said.

Arrabaca is a former soldier who served from 2001 to 2005 and worked as a mechanic on Patriot missile systems, Barnacle said, with police noting he wore a military-style helmet. He’s been taken into custody and has been interviewed, Barnacle said.

Arrabaca “came armed with bad intentions,” Barnacle said.

“He had two axes, a hammer, a machete and three knives,” as well as several incendiary devices, Barnacle said.

Barnacle said “26 Federal Plaza has long been a target of extremists,” and he said “Arrabaca was looking to injure people and harm people.”

Barnacle said Arrabaca had a cart with him with “anti-ICE literature,” he said when Arrabaca was being arrested, he “yelled derogatory terms toward ICE.”

On the suspect’s cart was a sign reading “ICE Off Our Streets,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Charges are yet to be filed, Tisch said, noting that the incident took place on federal property.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called it”deeply disturbing.”

“I’m relieved no one was seriously injured and that a suspect is in custody,” he wrote on social media. “… Our administration will continue to ensure that every New Yorker is safe in their city — and hold accountable any who threaten that.”

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(NEW YORK) — A tropical storm watch is in effect Monday for parts of the Gulf Coast after a tropical depression formed over the weekend and is expected to become Tropical Storm Bertha late Monday or Monday night.

The National Hurricane Center said it is closely monitoring what is currently Tropical Depression Two, which formed Sunday.

The tropical storm watch has been issued from the Florida panhandle to the southeast Louisiana coast, including Panama City and Pensacola, Florida; Mobile, Alabama; and Gulfport, Mississippi.

Tropical storm conditions, including strong winds and rain, are possible in the watch area by late Monday.

As of 11 a.m. ET Monday the tropical depression was a weak and disorganized system centered about 120 miles south of Panama City and drifting northwest at 3 mph with maximum sustained winds of about 35 mph. A tropical storm is defined as a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 39 mph to 73 mph.

After the depression becomes a storm, it’s expected to slowly strengthen over the next few days and move mostly parallel to or along the Gulf Coast. The latest forecast puts the system near or south of New Orleans by Wednesday.

The storm could impact the Louisiana coast and the areas of southeast Texas on Wednesday and into Thursday. Tropical storm conditions will be possible from New Orleans to Houston.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible across Florida on Monday and into Monday night, mostly along the Gulf Coast and panhandle.

A possible storm surge of 1 to 3 feet could impact the area from Indian Pass, Florida, located about two hours southwest of Tallahassee, to the Chassahowitzka River, about 90 minutes north of Clearwater on the Gulf coast. The rough surf could produce life-threatening rip currents.

From Monday evening through Wednesday, thunderstorm activity is expected to shift toward southern Alabama and Mississippi. Widespread rainfall of 2 to 4 inches is expected in the area along the Gulf Coast through Friday, with isolated totals up to 8 inches possible.

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(OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss.) — Family and friends of Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells are gathering Monday for his funeral in his hometown of Ocean Springs as authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.

Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, said at the service at Center Pointe Church, “We thank you, Lord, for the beautiful 18 years that you blessed us with him.”

“Thank you for the joy he brought, not only to our family, but also to his friends and everyone in the community whose lives he touched,” Wonsley said with her husband, Rev. Al Sharpton and family civil rights attorney Ben Crump by her side.

“Nolan had such a gentle, calming spirit about him,” she said.

She described her son as protective and nurturing, noting that he hoped to have three daughters one day.

“We will miss everything about him, from his quiet nature to the corny jokes. His gentle smile, the way he made everyone around him feel comfortable, loved and at ease,” Wonsley said. “Your absence has left an emptiness that can never truly be filled — a piece of our hearts will always be missing.”

“We will continue to fight for you,” she said through tears.

Wells’ father, Elmore Wonsley, was overcome with emotion as he recalled his son’s excellence in football, telling the mourners, “I nicknamed you Mr. Cool Hands, because it seemed like you were catching a touchdown every game.”

“You wanted to be the best, so I poured all my knowledge into you that I could — by taking you to the gym to work out, taking you to the beach to do drills in the sand, teaching you how to watch film, how to study your opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. And you carried these teachings all the way through high school,” he said.

Elmore Wonsley thanked everyone for attending the funeral.

“Nolan meant a lot to a lot of people, and today just shows us how much he meant to the community, to the country and to the world,” he said.

Sharpton will eulogize Wells.

Director Spike Lee is among those attending the service, Sharpton said, and actor and director Tyler Perry is paying for the funeral.

The 18-year-old went missing on the 4th of July after going on a boat trip with his high school friends to the popular, undeveloped Horn Island, just south of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, according to officials and Crump. 

“[The friends] left [Horn Island] and went back without Nolan,” Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said. “From what we understand, he chose to stay there.”

Wells’ body was recovered two days later, according to officials.

Authorities said they believe the college football player drowned and don’t suspect foul play, but the sheriff’s office stressed that investigators are “working diligently to determine exactly what occurred.”

Wells’ family is desperate for answers and sent his body to Washington, D.C., for an independent autopsy, Crump noted.

Ledbetter told ABC News that the sheriff’s office welcomes the family’s independent investigation.

“By all means, that’s more information looking into the death of Nolan that will be made available and another set of eyes looking at it,” he said.

“We’re working towards the same goal as the family — we want a thorough investigation,” the sheriff said.

Wonsley told ABC News her son was a “bright light,” recalling that “his smile, his energy was just, just so infectious.”

“He was just a genuinely a good person,” she said

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(NEW YORK) — Ismael Zambada Garcia, known as “El Mayo,” will be sentenced Monday in a New York City federal court on drug trafficking charges that accused him of being one of the most prolific and powerful narcotraffickers in the world.

Together with Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as “El Chapo,” he founded the Sinaloa cartel and oversaw the shipment of millions of kilograms of lethal drugs, including cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine. He employed armed sicarios who assaulted, tortured, and murdered and he paid millions in bribes at all levels of the Mexican government, officials said.

“It would be difficult to overstate the magnitude of the defendant’s crimes and scale of the corruption, violence, and other harm he spread throughout Mexico, the United States, and the world,” federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said in a sentencing memo that called for life in prison. 

The sentence is not in doubt. El Mayo pleaded guilty last August to a charge of committing a continuing criminal enterprise, a catch-all that included 85 violations of the law, and agreed to the mandatory life imprisonment along with a $15 billion forfeiture. 

As part of his plea, El Mayo, 76, admitted he was responsible for at least 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine and vast quantities of heroin and fentanyl.

Federal prosecutors said El Mayo represents “serious security concerns” that must be considered when the judge recommends a prison where he will serve his sentence.

“The defendant is the co-founder of one of the world’s most violent criminal organizations, and for decades directed its operations, including its violence. Moreover, many members of the Cartel remain loyal to the defendant, including one of the defendant’s sons, who remains a key leader of the defendant’s faction of the Cartel in the defendant’s absence,” federal prosecutors said.

The defense noted that El Mayo spared the judicial system a trial and “helped protect the safety of potential witnesses who will not need to be disclosed or called to testify.”

In a statement, El Mayo said he recognized the “grave harm that illegal drugs have done to the people of the United States, of Mexico and elsewhere.” He also said he recognized the “human toll of the violence and lawlessness that my criminal organization engaged in.”  

El Mayo said he took responsibility for his role in all of it and apologized to “everyone who has suffered or been affected by my actions.”

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(NEW YORK) — Gas prices in the United States topped $4 per gallon on average Monday as an escalation of the Iran war renewed fears of a global oil shortage.

Prices at the pump have jumped 13 cents per gallon, or 3%, over the past week, AAA data showed, with the average price per gallon now at $4.003.

The recent cost rise brings gasoline prices back to a level achieved soon after the Iran war began in late February. The Middle East conflict prompted Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the maritime trading route that facilitates transportation of about one-fifth of global oil supply. The historic oil disruption sent gasoline prices surging.

Gas prices temporarily fell below $4 a gallon last month after the U.S. and Iran struck a preliminary agreement aimed at ending the war. Before the Iran war, fuel costs had last exceeded $4 a gallon in August 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

An exchange of strikes between the U.S. and Iran in recent days has reignited large-scale fighting and dampened prospects of a resolution.

President Donald Trump on Sunday said the U.S. hit Iran “hard” in honor of the U.S. service members who were killed by Iran over the weekend.

U.S. Central Command said two service members were killed in an attack on Jordan on Friday, and that a third service member remained missing. Another service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday, CENTCOM said.

The U.S. resumed its naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz last week, reversing a key commitment made as part of the agreement. That move came after Iran fired upon oil tankers in the strait.

The Iran war triggered one of the largest oil shocks ever recorded, sending the national average price of gasoline as high as $4.56 a gallon on May 21, AAA data showed.

Oil and gasoline prices began to fall in late May, however, as Iran and the U.S. appeared willing to strike an agreement that would reopen the strait. By late June, those prices gad fallen fell to their lowest level since before the war began.

Relief at the pump helped bring down prices overall. Inflation dropped more than expected in June as gas prices eased, federal government data on Tuesday showed.

Gas prices rose 3.5% in June compared to a year earlier, marking a retreat from a year-over-year inflation rate of 4.2% in the prior month. The reading for June marked the lowest inflation since March, though the pace of price increases remains more than a percentage point higher than its pre-war level.

Even after easing last month, overall inflation stands markedly higher than the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.

ABC News’ David Brennan contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — A man with a history of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity set off an “incendiary device” outside a Manhattan federal building that houses an immigration court, authorities said.

Video captured the moment the suspect poured a liquid and then ignited it outside 26 Federal Plaza, sparking a massive fire. FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle said the suspect used fireworks to set the blaze.

Two people — a federal employee and a civilian — suffered minor injuries and were treated and released, officials said.

Barnacle called it an “anti-government attack on a federal facility.” He said the suspect had an incendiary device, a pellet gun and a sign reading “ICE Off Our Streets.”

The suspect was taken into custody, the FBI said, and the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — A dozen purported members of the Bad Boys 7, a set of the Trinitarios, were indicted Monday on racketeering conspiracy charges that accused them of five murders, including the carjacking death last August of Ariela La Langosta, a nightlife influencer with more than half a million followers on Instagram.

She was shot multiple times and found dead in her car on the Cross County Parkway in Mount Vernon.

La Langosta, 33, whose real name was Ariela Mejia-Polanco, was a mother of two.

Her family said she left her job at Ikon New York around 4:30 that Sunday morning. The Westchester County Police Department said she was found deceased a few hours later, about 8 a.m., behind the wheel of her car on the eastbound Cross County Parkway near the Broad Street exit in Mount Vernon.

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(OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss.) — Family and friends of Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells will gather on Monday for his funeral as authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.

Rev. Al Sharpton is scheduled to deliver a eulogy at the service at Center Pointe Church in Wells’ hometown, Ocean Springs.

The 18-year-old went missing on the 4th of July after going on a boat trip with his high school friends to the popular, undeveloped Horn Island, just south of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, according to officials and family attorney Ben Crump.

“[The friends] left [Horn Island] and went back without Nolan,” Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said. “From what we understand, he chose to stay there.”

Wells’ body was recovered two days later, according to officials.

Authorities said they believe the college football player drowned and don’t suspect foul play, but the sheriff’s office stressed that investigators are “working diligently to determine exactly what occurred.”

Wells’ family is desperate for answers and sent his body to Washington, D.C., for an independent autopsy, Crump noted.

Ledbetter told ABC News that the sheriff’s office welcomes the family’s independent investigation.

“By all means, that’s more information looking into the death of Nolan that will be made available and another set of eyes looking at it,” he said.

“We’re working towards the same goal as the family — we want a thorough investigation,” the sheriff said.

Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, told ABC News her son was a “bright light,” recalling that “his smile, his energy was just, just so infectious.”

“He was just a genuinely a good person,” she said

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