A judge will hear evidence against singer D4vd for the murder and dismemberment of a teenager
Listen to this article
Average 5 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. It can be mispronounced. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
WARNING: This story contains details of torture and descriptions of human remains. It may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone who has.
A judge will decide in a hearing that opens on Tuesday whether there is enough evidence to impeach the D4vd singer in the case of the murder and drowning of a 14-year-old girl, who authorities said threatened to reveal their relationship.
Prosecutors say evidence will show that D4vd, 21, whose legal name is David Burke, brought Celeste Rivas Hernandez to the house he was renting in the Hollywood Hills, stabbed her multiple times, and cut her body in his garage with chainsaws.
The hearing in Los Angeles is expected to last about four days and will look like an abbreviated trial. There is no judge. Judge Charlaine Olmedo will decide whether the prosecution has presented enough evidence to show probable cause for a mistrial.
The hearing will be the first public presentation of evidence against Burke, who was arrested in April and pleaded not guilty to murder, aggravated sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation. His attorney, Blair Berk, said Burke is not responsible for the death of Rivas Hernandez.
The defendant, who has been held without bail in a jail near the court since his arrest, will appear in court in prison clothes, after the judge rejected a request that he be able to wear a suit, as is usually allowed at trial. No cameras will be allowed in the courtroom.
Shortly after his arrest, prosecutors filed a memo, which the defendants tried to block, explaining what their testimony would show at trial.
The accused and the victim had known each other for many years. The letter says Burke met Rivas Hernandez when she was 11, began sexually assaulting her when she was 13 and he was 18, and killed her when she threatened to report him.
She was reported missing several times in the years before her death, and prosecutors say they have evidence she was with Burke for a long time, including a trip to Texas where she met his family. Detectives contacted him about him, but authorities say he lied and said he only met him once and didn’t know he was young. Prosecutors said they had sex messages and photos exchanged between the two.
The court said he sent a car to pick her up on the night of April 23, 2025, in her hometown of Lake Elsinore, Calif., about 130 miles outside of Los Angeles. The two texted each other until he arrived at her Hollywood home, after which her phone died.
“Knowing that he had to silence the victim before he ruined his music career as he had threatened him, shortly after his arrival, the accused stabbed the victim to death several times and stood aside while he was bleeding,” said the document.
Evidence against D4vd
Prosecutors say they have records showing that Burke ordered the saws and saws used to dismember his body in his garage, and that his DNA was found there on bloodstains found when police executed a search warrant.
They say he then drove for months with the body in the boot. About four months after his death, his decomposing body was found in a Burke-registered Tesla that had been driven out of the Hollywood Hills in September.
Prosecutors say the car was parked around the corner from his home, and the video will show he was the last person to drive it.
It is not clear why it took another seven months to arrest Burke – even though uncooperative witnesses had to be called and a final autopsy report showing she had been stabbed was released until December. The defense did not give their version of events publicly.
A rising star
D4vd started making music for YouTube videos he created for a video game Fortnite when he was young.
The songs he wrote and recorded on his phone were a mix of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. Music has made him a surprise on TikTok, Instagram, Soundcloud and Spotify, where his top songs, including his 2022 success. Killing with Loveit has had over a billion plays.
He performed at last year’s Coachella music festival just weeks before prosecutors say Rivas Hernandez was killed, and his album was released. Five months later, he was on a promotional tour when the body was found.
