Singer D4vd faces trial determination in 14-year-old's killing, dismemberment case

A preliminary hearing in Los Angeles is determining whether singer D4vd (legal name David Anthony Burke), 21, will face trial for the April 2025 killing and dismemberment of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Prosecutors allege Burke stabbed Rivas Hernandez after she threatened to expose a sexual relationship spanning years and damage his multi-million-dollar music career. The hearing, which began July 22, 2026, has presented graphic evidence including photographs of the dismembered remains found in Burke's Tesla trunk in September 2025, approximately four months after her death.

Detectives testified that Burke ordered chainsaws, a body bag, an inflatable pool, and a shovel online using an alias but his own credit card in the days following Rivas Hernandez's death. Police found most of these items in Burke's garage. A homicide detective stated that blood samples from apparent stains in the garage matched Rivas Hernandez's DNA with extremely high statistical probability—described as a septillion times more likely to come from her than any other person. A criminalist testified that a body bag matching Burke's online order contained her head and torso, with arms and legs found in a separate garbage bag. Cell-tower data and Tesla system tracking placed Burke at his Hollywood home the night of April 23, 2025, the alleged time of death, and later that night in a remote area of Santa Barbara County.

Prosecutors documented a lengthy sexual relationship beginning when Rivas Hernandez was 13 and Burke was 18, after they met when she was 11. Text messages showed Rivas Hernandez growing jealous of Burke's other relationships and threatening to expose him. Burke had sent a rideshare to pick her up from Lake Elsinore, California on April 23, after which her phone went dead. Rivas Hernandez's passport was discovered in January 2026 in a brushy area of Santa Barbara County where cell data showed Burke had made two visits post-killing.

The defense has challenged the completeness of forensic testing, questioning why DNA analysis was not performed on chainsaw handles and other items. Defense attorneys pressed investigators on whether the absence of visible blood precluded the possibility of touch DNA. A criminalist acknowledged that some blood evidence in the garage was not visible to the naked eye and was only detected through chemical testing. The defense has suggested fake blood found in the garage—used in Burke's music videos—may account for some evidence. Burke's attorney has maintained he did not cause Rivas Hernandez's death.

The Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Odey Ukpo, issued an unusual statement with the autopsy report criticizing the sealing of autopsy findings, calling it "unfathomable" that Rivas Hernandez's parents had to wait months to learn she died from stab wounds. Dr. Grant Ho's autopsy determined death was a homicide caused by penetrating wounds to the upper body, though extensive postmortem decomposition limited the examination. Judge Charlaine Olmedo is expected to issue a ruling within days on whether sufficient probable cause exists to proceed to trial on charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and mutilation of human remains. Burke has pleaded not guilty to all charges.