A Los Angeles judge has ruled that American singer D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, will stand trial on charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains in the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Judge Charlaine Olmedo of the Los Angeles County Superior Court made her decision following a five-day preliminary hearing, declaring that prosecutors had met their burden on all counts. Burke, 21, is scheduled to be formally charged on 31 August, with the trial to begin within 90 days of that date. He has pleaded not guilty throughout, with his lawyers maintaining he did not cause Rivas Hernandez's death.
Prosecutors laid out a detailed account of the final hours of the teenager's life. On the morning of 23 April 2025, Rivas Hernandez travelled to Burke's Hollywood Hills home in an Uber he had sent to pick her up. Her last text message, sent as she neared his residence, read: "girly pop i'm almost there open ur door if ur home." After that, her phone went permanently silent. Prosecutors allege Burke stabbed her when she arrived, then dismembered her body in his garage using a chainsaw. Her remains were discovered nearly five months later in a Tesla registered to Burke, in a state of advanced decomposition and severe mutilation. A police forensic analyst testified that DNA samples from apparent bloodstains in the garage matched Rivas Hernandez.
The court heard extensive evidence about the nature of the relationship between Burke and the victim. Text messages and photographs recovered from his iPhone and iCloud accounts showed the two had been in a sexual relationship since she was 13 and he was 18. Messages suggested she had become pregnant at 13 and undergone an abortion in 2024. The night before her death, the pair argued via text about Burke's relationship with another woman, during which Rivas Hernandez sent threatening messages, including vows to expose their relationship and destroy his career. Prosecutors argued Burke killed her to eliminate a witness and protect a music career worth millions, with Judge Olmedo finding probable cause for murder with special circumstances, including lying in wait and witness elimination.
The defence challenged the sufficiency of the evidence, noting that no witnesses or surveillance cameras placed Burke at the home during the relevant timeframe, and that chainsaws found in his garage tested negative for blood. Defence attorneys also highlighted that Rivas Hernandez had misrepresented her age to Burke in early conversations, telling him she was 16 or 18, and that her parents had been aware of the relationship, even giving written consent for her to travel to London with him. Text messages shown by the defence indicated she had repeatedly asked to come to his home in the days before her death, and that he had initially resisted before agreeing to send the Uber.
D4vd — pronounced "David" — rose to prominence as a teenage online sensation, blending indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop to amass over a billion streams on Spotify, with his 2022 breakthrough track "Romantic Homicide" propelling him to global fame. He performed at the Coachella music festival in 2024 and released his debut full-length album, "Withered," just two days after the date prosecutors say Rivas Hernandez was killed. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said after the ruling that his office had presented only a fraction of its evidence during the preliminary hearing, and that it had not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty. Burke faces either life imprisonment or, potentially, execution.