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Data from Tesla X

A California Highway Patrol officer testified this week that a Caltrans worker found Rivas Hernandez's passport ID card in a dirt turnout along Highway 154 in Santa Barbara County on Jan. 7, 2026.

A few days later, LAPD Detective William Roecker took the stand to explain the connection between Burke and the location where the passport ID card was found.

Roecker, who specializes in technology and cellular analysis, testified that cell tower data showed Burke's Tesla Model X - the same vehicle in which Rivas Hernandez's remains were later found - and the singer's cellphone traveled together in April 2025 from his rented Hollywood Hills home to the Santa Barbara County location.

The detective said the data showed Burke's Tesla and cellphone leaving the Hollywood Hills residence between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. on April 23, 2025. The vehicle and cellphone then returned from Santa Barbara County between 4:03 a.m. and 7:07 a.m. on April 24, 2025, Roecker testified.

According to Roecker, Burke traveled to the same location several more times in May 2025. The detective said data from Burke's Tesla and cellphone showed trips to and from the area on May 8, May 9 and May 31.

Sexually explicit photos

LAPD Detective Corey Farell, a nearly 30-year veteran of the department, took the stand Friday, describing the photos, videos and text messages he reviewed from Burke's and Rivas Hernandez's cellphones - key evidence in the prosecution's argument that Burke sexually abused a minor.

Farell testified that the pair's initial conversations began when Rivas Hernandez was 11 years old. Two years later, when she was an eighth-grader, their relationship became romantic, the detective said.

According to images presented by prosecutors, the relationship was sexual in nature.

The 13-year-old girl appeared in dozens of photos with the then-18-year-old man, including images in which she was nude and engaged in sexual activity, prosecutors alleged.

Some of the images also appeared to show the two exchanging explicit photographs, according to the prosecution.

The photos may support the prosecution's claims that Burke stabbed Rivas Hernandez to death and attempted to cover up the crime to prevent their relationship from becoming public and jeopardizing his lucrative music career.

Eight-grader had an abortion

Detective Farrell testified that Rivas Hernandez began communicating with Burke on Aug. 8, 2022, when she was 11 years old. Their final recorded conversation occurred on April 23, 2025.

During the nearly three-year period, the two discussed plans to meet and communicated regularly by text message.

Farrell testified that investigators recovered messages referencing emergency contraceptives, including Plan B, as well as a photograph showing the pair posing with a box of the medication.

According to testimony, messages presented in court also included discussions that prosecutors argued were related to a possible pregnancy. In one exchange from January 2024, Burke apologized for  putting (her) through this,  and Rivas Hernandez responded that neither of them was capable of caring for a child.

Prosecutors also pointed to later messages that they argued referenced an abortion. According to messages shown in court, Burke offered what he described as an  abortion gift,  and Rivas Hernandez responded by requesting a designer handbag. In another exchange, prosecutors said Rivas Hernandez appeared to reference having undergone an abortion.