LOS ANGELES (AP) — In a significant development today, a judge will determine whether singer D4vd, legally known as David Burke, will face trial for the alleged murder and dismemberment of a 14-year-old girl. The incident reportedly involved threats from the victim to reveal their relationship.
According to prosecutors, the evidence suggests that 21-year-old Burke brought the teenager, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, to his rented Hollywood Hills residence where he allegedly stabbed her multiple times. Further accusations involve the use of chainsaws to dismember her body in the garage.
The preliminary hearing in Los Angeles is anticipated to proceed over four days, with courtroom proceedings resembling a condensed trial. However, there will be no jury present as Judge Charlaine Olmedo evaluates whether sufficient evidence exists for a formal trial.
The hearing will resemble a mini trial
This marks the first time evidence against Burke will be publicly presented since his arrest in April. He faces serious charges, including murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains. Blair Berk, his attorney, maintains that Burke is not responsible for Rivas Hernandez’s death.
Burke, who remains in custody without bail at a nearby jail, will attend the hearing dressed in jail attire. The judge denied a request for him to wear a suit, a privilege typically granted during jury trials. Additionally, the court has prohibited cameras from the proceedings.
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.
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 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. Five months later, he was on tour promoting it when the body was discovered.