Judge to hear evidence against singer D4vd in killing, dismemberment of
teen and decide on trial
[July 21, 2026]
By ANDREW DALTON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge is set to decide at a hearing that opens
Tuesday whether there is enough evidence to put singer D4vd on trial in
the killing and dismemberment of a 14-year-old girl that authorities
said had threatened to expose their relationship.
Prosecutors have said the evidence will show that 21-year-old D4vd,
whose legal name is David Burke, brought Celeste Rivas Hernandez to the
Hollywood Hills house he was renting, stabbed her multiple times then
cut apart her body in his garage using chain saws.
The preliminary hearing in Los Angeles is expected to last about four
days and will look much like an abbreviated trial. There is no jury.
Judge Charlaine Olmedo will decide whether the prosecution offered
enough evidence to demonstrate probable cause to proceed to trial.
The hearing will resemble a mini trial
It will be the first public presentation of evidence against Burke, who
was arrested in April and pleaded not guilty to murder, continuous
sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of
human remains. His attorney, Blair Berk, has said Burke is not
responsible for Rivas Hernandez's death.
The defendant, who has been held without bail in a jail near the
courthouse since his arrest, will appear in court in his jail clothes,
after the judge rejected a request that he be able to wear a suit as is
usually allowed at a jury trial. No cameras will be allowed in the
courtroom.
Soon after his arrest, prosecutors filed a memo, which the defense
unsuccessfully tried to have sealed, outlining what their evidence would
show at this hearing.
The defendant and the victim had known each other several years
The filing said 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 report him.
She was reported missing multiple times in the years before her death,
and prosecutors said they have evidence she was with Burke for long
stretches, including a trip to Texas where she met his family.
Detectives had contacted him about her, but authorities say he lied and
said he had only met her once and didn't know she was a minor.
Prosecutors said they have sexual text messages and photos the two
exchanged.
A court filing said he sent a car to pick her up on the night of April
23, 2025, from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, California, 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 dead.
“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 document said.
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A makeshift memorial for Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose body was
found inside a vehicle owned by singer D4vd, is displayed outside
her home in Lake Elsinore, Calif., on April 21, 2026. (AP
Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
 Prosecutors say they have
evidence linking Burke to girl's death
Prosecutors said they have records showing Burke ordered chain saws
and wading pools that he used to dismember her body in his garage,
and that her DNA was found there on blood stains discovered when
police served a search warrant.
They said he then drove around for months with the body in the
trunk. About four months after her death, her decomposing body was
found in the Tesla registered to Burke that had been towed from the
Hollywood Hills in September.
Prosecutors said the car was parked around the corner from his
house, and surveillance video will show he was the last person to
drive it.
It's not entirely clear why it took seven more months to arrest
Burke — though uncooperative witnesses had to be subpoenaed and the
final autopsy report showing she was stabbed was not released until
December.
The defense has not publicly provided its version of events.
Preliminary hearings like this one serve a similar function to that
of grand jury proceedings. Prosecutors generally present only as
much evidence as they think they need to, and witnesses are kept to
a minimum — mostly police and other investigators. For defense
attorneys, it can provide ways to explore potential weaknesses in
witness testimony that they can exploit at a trial.
D4vd had budding music career
D4vd began making music for YouTube 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. Five months later, he was on tour promoting it
in when the body was discovered.
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