D4vd to stand trial over the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez
A Los Angeles judge has ruled that singer D4vd must stand trial over the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
Judge Charlaine Olmedo made the decision for the case to advance to a jury trial after D4vd, real name David Anthony Burke, faced a five-day preliminary hearing, which lasted from July 21st to July 27th.
Olmedo concluded that prosecutors had provided enough probable cause for a trial to take place.
During the preliminary hearing, prosecutors alleged that Burke stabbed Rivas Hernandez and subsequently dismembered her body with a chainsaw following several years of alleged sexual abuse.
It was claimed in court that she had threatened to speak about the alleged abuse, which had threatened his music career.
The court also later heard that 11 air fresheners were discovered in the Tesla when Rivas Hernandez’s remains were discovered.
Burke will now be held in custody without bail, with an arraignment set for August 31st. The trial could begin as soon as 60 days later, according to The Guardian.
The singer is charged with first-degree murder, as well as charges for lewd acts with a child and for dismembering the victim’s body on April 20th, 2025.
Burke has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Prosecutors alleged that Burke kept her dismembered body in his Tesla. The vehicle was later discovered in a tow yard in Hollywood in September, while Burke was on tour, which is when Hernandez’s body was eventually identified.
The prosecutors claimed that the night before her death, Hernandez sent Burke a series of angry texts that threatened to expose their relationship after becoming jealous of another woman. It’s alleged that Burke then paid for an Uber to take her to his home, where prosecutors say he proceeded to stab her to death.
The court also heard text messages that Burke sent Hernandez about her whereabouts in the days after her death, which prosecutors claim were sent as a cover-up.
Furthermore, the court heard during the preliminary trial that Burke first met Hernandez when she was 11 and began sexually abusing her when she was 13 and 18.
Text messages between the pair were also read out in court that stated she had an abortion a year before her death, when she was just 13.
Authorities claim Hernandez was killed on April 23rd, 2025, just two days before D4vd released his debut album, Withered.
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