Judge Finds Enough Evidence for D4vd to Stand Trial in Celeste Rivas’ Killing
Singer D4vd has been ordered to stand trial in the killing and dismemberment of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez after a judge found prosecutors presented sufficient evidence during a disturbing five-day preliminary hearing.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo issued the ruling Monday after hearing testimony about the teenager’s final text messages, DNA evidence and an alleged history of sexual abuse involving D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke.
Burke, 21, has pleaded not guilty. He remains jailed without bail and is scheduled to return to court for a post-preliminary arraignment on August 31.
He is charged with murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains.
The murder charge includes special-circumstance allegations that Burke killed Rivas Hernandez while lying in wait, for financial gain and to prevent her from serving as a witness in an investigation. Prosecutors also allege that he personally used a sharp instrument during the killing.
If convicted of the special-circumstance murder charge, Burke could face life in prison without parole or the death penalty. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman has not announced whether his office will seek a death sentence.
Final Text Sent Near Burke’s Hollywood Hills Home
Prosecutors gave a moment-by-moment account of Rivas Hernandez’s final hours, showing that her phone activity ended after she arrived near Burke’s Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025.
Shortly after 10 a.m., she was traveling in an Uber that prosecutors said Burke had arranged to pick her up.
As she approached the residence, she sent what would become her final message.
“girly pop i’m almost there open ur door if ur home,” she wrote.
Prosecutors allege Burke stabbed her after she entered the home. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said she was never seen alive again after arriving at the residence.
Los Angeles Police Department Detective Corey Farrell read the messages in court after investigators obtained them through warrants for Burke’s iPhone and iCloud accounts.
The night before her disappearance, Rivas Hernandez and Burke argued through text messages about his relationships with other women.
She threatened to tell her father lies about Burke and wrote, “i will end ur career and ur life.”
Prosecutors contend Burke killed her because he feared she would expose their illegal sexual relationship and destroy his increasingly lucrative music career.
After her phone went silent, Burke sent several messages asking where she was and expressing concern. Prosecutors allege those messages were sent as cover after the killing.
Messages Detailed Pregnancy and Alleged Sexual Abuse
The hearing also included sexually explicit photographs and years of messages documenting what prosecutors described as the continuous sexual abuse of Rivas Hernandez.
Messages indicated she became pregnant at age 13 and underwent an abortion in 2024.
“Both of us aren’t able to take care of it,” Rivas Hernandez wrote to Burke in a January 8, 2024, message about the pregnancy.
“I know but still,” Burke responded.
In another message, Burke allegedly told her, “let this abortion be the last one till we have the real one.”
Prosecutors showed some of the less explicit photographs in court, including images of Burke and Rivas Hernandez kissing. Other material was considered too graphic to display publicly.
Farrell described images that caused the teenager’s mother to cry and prompted both of her parents to leave the courtroom Friday. They returned for the final day of the hearing Monday.
Some photographs showed that Rivas Hernandez had “David” tattooed on one of her fingers. That finger was among two that had been removed by the time her body was discovered.
Prosecutors Detail Alleged Dismemberment Purchases
Prosecutors allege Burke stabbed Rivas Hernandez and dismembered her body inside his garage.
According to the district attorney’s office, Burke ordered a shovel that was delivered to his home the day after she disappeared. Over the following days, he allegedly used an alias to order three chainsaws, a body bag and a blue inflatable pool.
Prosecutors contend Burke placed the teenager’s body inside the pool and used a chainsaw to dismember her.
A police analyst testified that apparent bloodstains found in Burke’s garage matched Rivas Hernandez’s DNA profile. Small pieces of blue plastic resembling material from the inflatable pool were also allegedly found embedded in her remains.
Her decomposed and dismembered body was discovered September 8, 2025, in the front storage compartment of a Tesla registered to Burke. The vehicle had been impounded after it was reported abandoned.
LAPD criminalist Chelsea Murillo testified that investigators found at least 11 air fresheners inside the Tesla after Rivas Hernandez’s remains were discovered.
Defense Challenges Evidence and Timeline
Burke’s attorneys argued that no witnesses saw Rivas Hernandez enter the home and no surveillance footage captured either her arrival or Burke’s presence during the time prosecutors allege she was killed.
The defense also presented messages showing that Rivas Hernandez repeatedly asked to visit Burke in the days before her death. According to testimony, she asked seven times before he agreed.
Defense attorney Blair Berk questioned Farrell about messages in which the teenager threatened to contact Burke’s mother, speak with his friends and “leak” information about their relationship.
Farrell acknowledged that he found no indication that she threatened to contact police or pursue legal action against Burke.
The defense also established that the parents of Burke and Rivas Hernandez knew the two had a relationship. Burke had attended church with members of her family, and her parents had allowed her to travel to London with him for a week.
Farrell testified that when Burke was 17 and Rivas Hernandez was 11, she initially told him she was 16. In other messages, she claimed she was 18.
Burke’s attorneys maintain that he did not kill her and argued that prosecutors had failed to establish a clear motive or prove when and where the teenager died.
Olmedo nevertheless ruled that the prosecution had met the lower evidentiary standard required to send the charges to trial.
Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s Family Reacts
Rivas Hernandez’s family expressed relief after the judge announced her decision.
“The family’s relieved that it’s done with,” family attorney Patrick Steinfeld told reporters outside the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
“They’re going to take a break and they appreciate the hard work the district attorney’s office has done, as well as the investigation by LAPD investigators.”
The district attorney’s office said 12 prosecution witnesses testified during the hearing and described the evidence presented as only a portion of the material investigators have gathered.
Burke rose to prominence as a teenager through a blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. His 2022 breakthrough song, “Romantic Homicide,” accumulated more than 1 billion streams, and he later performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
His first full-length album, “Withered,” was released two days after the date prosecutors allege Rivas Hernandez was killed.
