A female witness’s refusal to testify in the grand jury proceedings in the Celeste Rivas death investigation prompted prosecutors to seek her arrest and forced testimony.
Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman made the dramatic move Wednesday afternoon outside the Los Angeles courthouse. She told attorney Evan Jenness that she would request a “body attachment” to force the uncooperative witness into custody and bring her before the grand jury.
The witness shares the same lawyer as Robert Morgenroth, who manages singer D4vd. Morgenroth spent three days testifying before the grand jury this week. He told his attorney that prosecutors grilled him about why he didn’t call the police after learning information that could be relevant to the case.
“I feel like I didn’t have the responsibility to do that, and just wanted to continue with the tour,” Morgenroth reportedly told his lawyer after facing tough questions from Silverman, according to TMZ.
The identity of the female witness remains unknown. But her connection to Morgenroth through their shared attorney suggests she may have information about the circumstances surrounding 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s death.
Rivas’s decomposed remains were found in September inside a Tesla registered to D4vd. The R&B singer has been treated as a suspect by the LAPD and the district attorney’s office in what they’re calling a murder investigation.
The grand jury has been hearing testimony for weeks as prosecutors build their case. Grand jury proceedings are typically secret, but the drama has spilled into courthouse hallways as attorneys navigate the complex investigation.
D4vd reportedly first contacted Rivas through a gaming platform when she was just 11 or 12 years old. The teenager went missing from Lake Elsinore, California, in April before her body was discovered months later.