NEW YORK (AP) — Mets center fielder Luis Robert Jr. remained out of the lineup Wednesday night against Washington and was sent for imaging, the latest issue for a New York team already in an early hole this season.
Robert missed his third straight game with tightness in his lower back and could land on the injured list.
“Didn't improve much after treatment yesterday, so he's getting an MRI right now to see what we're dealing with,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday afternoon. “We've got to wait and see what the MRI says and what's the plan of attack, if we need to put him on the IL or continue to be day-to-day. But, that's why we're taking a look at it.”
Acquired from the Chicago White Sox in a January trade, the oft-injured Robert got off to a strong start but has cooled off dramatically. He is 5 for 38 (.132) over his last 10 games dating to April 13 after batting .298 with 12 walks and an .866 OPS through his first 14 games.
The 28-year-old slugger from Cuba is hitting .224 overall with two homers, eight RBIs and a .656 OPS.
Tyrone Taylor was set to start in center field Wednesday, with MJ Melendez in left and rookie Carson Benge in right. Left fielder Juan Soto, hampered by forearm discomfort in his left (throwing) arm, was the designated hitter for the seventh consecutive game since returning last week from a right calf strain.
Robert, an All-Star in 2023, was limited to 210 games over the past two seasons with the White Sox due to hip and hamstring injuries.
“Every time you send someone for an MRI, you're always concerned. But given the history of Luis the past couple of years with injuries, and us trying to get to know the player, the personality, that's what we've got right now," Mendoza said.
"But again, we've got to wait. We're doing everything in our power to kind of keep him on the field, and hopefully this is just a minor thing that we're dealing with for a couple of days and he's back out there soon.”
Injuries are piling up for the disappointing Mets, who began the day 10-19 after beating the Nationals 8-0 in the series opener Tuesday for only their third victory in 18 games.
Star shortstop Francisco Lindor strained his left calf last week — on the same night Soto returned — and will be sidelined for a while. Lindor is wearing a protective boot and won’t be reexamined until mid-May.
First baseman Jorge Polanco is on the 10-day injured list with a bruised right wrist — although he’s also dealing with bursitis in his left heel, which has bothered him since very early in the season.
Struggling right-hander Kodai Senga (0-4, 9.00 ERA) went on the 15-day injured list Tuesday, retroactive to Monday, with lumbar spine inflammation. He is out indefinitely.
Left-handed reliever A.J. Minter remains on target to return in early May from left lat surgery that cut short his 2025 season. He threw a bullpen Tuesday at Citi Field and is scheduled to make his next minor league rehab appearances Friday and Sunday.
“We'll see where we're at after that,” Mendoza said. “We're not going to rush him.”
In roster news, Tommy Pham elected free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Syracuse. The veteran outfielder was designated for assignment Monday.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
New York Mets Francisco Lindor walks in the dugout wearing a protective boot during the sixth inning of the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga (34) leaves the mound after a pitching change during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Friday, April 17, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
New York Mets' Luis Robert Jr. hits a single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
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 chainsaws 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 obtained text messages between the two from April 22, 2025, the night before all her phone activity went quiet and they believe she was killed. They also 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 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 chainsaws online that he used 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 then drove to Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northwest of his home to get rid of evidence, the document alleges. Her passport was found there in January. Burke returned home by April 24, when he gave a radio interview promoting his debut full-length album, “Withered,” which was released the following day, prosecutors said in the filing.
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 some 80 miles (129 km) outside of Los Angeles 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 14m 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.
FILE - American singer-songwriter, David Anthony Burke, aka D4vd, performs on the Casino stage during the 58th Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF), in Montreux, Switzerland, July 19, 2024. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP, File)
Singer-songwriter, David Burke aka D4vd sits in artist space at Coachella music festival on April 18, 2025 in Indio, Calif. (AP Photo)
FILE - A makeshift Memorial for Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who was killed and found inside a vehicle owned by singer D4vd, is placed outside her home in Lake Elsinore, Calif., on April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, file)
In this courtroom sketch, David Anthony Burke, whose stage name is D4vd, is seen in court Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Los Angeles on charges of killing a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in his car. (Bill Robles via AP)
