California | Singer D4vd's preliminary hearing set for July 21 in killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez
During the hearing set to begin July 21, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo will determine if there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against the 21-year-old singer—whose real name is David Anthony Burke—to proceed to trial.
One of Burke's attorneys, Blair Berk, indicated Tuesday the defense would be ready for the upcoming hearing, following a series of requested postponements.
Burke was charged on April 20 with capital murder in the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
The teen's remains were found last Sept. 8—just days after what would have been the girl's 15th birthday—in the front trunk of the Tesla Model X that was registered to the singer, according to an April 29 court filing by the prosecution, which noted that the vehicle had been towed three days earlier while parked about 400 feet from his Hollywood Hills home.
The girl's severely decomposed head and body were found in a black cadaver bag, while her severed arms and legs were found in a plastic garbage bag underneath the cadaver bag, according to the filing.
"Surveillance video and other evidence confirm defendant was the last person to drive the vehicle on July 29, 2025, before he left Los Angeles on a concert tour," according to the prosecution's filing.
The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegations of lying in wait, murder for financial gain, and killing a witness in a criminal investigation. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is expected to decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Burke, who remains jailed without bail.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman has said the lying-in-wait allegation stems from D4vd's invitation to Celeste to come to his Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, while the financial gain allegation stems from the singer's effort to maintain his lucrative music career, which was being threatened by his alleged sexual relationship with the underage girl, Hochman said. Celeste was considered the key witness in that investigation, leading to the allegation of murdering a witness, the district attorney said.
Burke is also charged with one count each of continuous sexual abuse of a child under age 14 and mutilation of human remains.
He has pleaded not guilty through his attorneys.
The prosecution's filing alleges that he "purchased tools to carry out his plot to dismember and dispose of the victim's body," including ordering a shovel, two chain saws, a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, and a blue inflatable pool to be delivered to his home under a fake name.
"Moreover, defendant took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim's body. After placing her body into the blue inflatable pool to prevent her blood from spilling onto his garage floor, defendant used a chainsaw and perhaps other tools to cut off her limbs. Small blue plastic fragments were found embedded in the victim's remains, which were collected by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Department," according to the filing.
The filing alleges that Burke "amputated her left ring and pinky fingers because her ring finger contained a tattoo of his name," and those fingers were not found in the Tesla.
Los Angeles police detectives served a search warrant last Sept. 16 at his home and found "evidence consistent with the dismemberment of the victim's body in the inflatable pool, which contained multiple linear cuts," according to the filing.
The filing alleges that several biological samples, which tested positive for blood, were collected within the garage area. DNA analysis determined that various samples matched the victim's unique genetic profile.
According to the prosecution's brief, Burke and the girl met in January 2022 when she was 11 years old, and they began a "sexual relationship" in November 2023 when she was 13 and he was 18, and "text exchanges between the victim and defendant contain references to sex, pregnancy, abortion, and use of the Plan B emergency contraceptive."
"There are also explicit photographs documenting and corroborating their sexual relationship," the prosecution alleged, noting that the two "broke up" in November 2024 but continued to communicate and that "text messages suggest they also continued to have sexual relations."
The prosecution alleges in the filing that the girl likely died April 23, 2025, and that the two had "engaged in a lengthy argument described in detail in their text messages" a night earlier that "reveal the victim's jealousy over defendant's relationships with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together."
The teen "became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with the defendant to end his career and destroy his life," according to the filing, which noted that his first studio album was set to be released a few days later.
Burke allegedly sent an Uber to bring the girl from her Lake Elsinore home to his residence and then sent text messages to her inquiring where she was after the Uber dropped her off, the prosecution alleges.
The prosecution contends in the brief that it was "part of defendant's premeditated plan to cover up the murder, as she was already dead by this time."
"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, the defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out. At no time did he call law enforcement or 911 or take her to an emergency room to save her life. Despite knowing she was dead and her family was trying to find her, the evidence will show the defendant lied and claimed he didn't know where she was," according to the filing.
D4vd was arrested on April 16 by Los Angeles Police Department officers.
His attorneys issued a statement at the time denying the singer killed Celeste.
"Let us be clear, the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez, and he was not the cause of her death," defense attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter said. "There has been no indictment returned by any grand jury in this case and no criminal complaint filed. David has only been detained under suspicion. We will vigorously defend David's innocence."
Source: abc7.com, Staff, July 8, 2026
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but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
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but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
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