A judge determined Monday that there’s enough evidence for David Anthony Burke, the 21-year-old singer known as D4vd, to be tried on all counts in the murder case of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
The 14-year-old girl’s severely decomposed remains were found in Burke’s Tesla last fall.
Prosecutors allege Burke fatally stabbed Rivas Hernandez in April 2025 after she threatened to expose their alleged sexual relationship, then took steps to conceal her death and dispose of her remains.
Over the course of a preliminary hearing that began last Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, prosecutors presented new evidence, including graphic photos and text messages, to show probable cause to go to trial.
Burke has pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious sexual acts with a person under 14 years old and the mutilation of a human body.
His attorneys have denied the allegations and said during closing arguments on Monday that the murder charges should be dismissed. “There’s no evidence that Mr. Burke harbored a deliberate intent to kill Miss Hernandez,” said Burke’s lawyer, Marilyn Bednarski.
Burke is being held without bail, and a trial date has not been set yet.
Here’s what else to know about the case.
How the case unfolded
A picture of singer D4vd is seen during a press briefing on the case against him in Los Angeles on April 20, 2026.
(Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
The parents of Rivas Hernandez reported the teen missing from their home in Lake Elsinore, Calif., in early 2024. Investigators found Burke’s number in her phone records and contacted the singer. He said he had spoken with her once and was unaware she was a minor or that she was missing. Later, when detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department visited him at his Hollywood Hills home and informed him she was a 13-year-old runaway, he said he had met her only once — in November 2023 — and did not know her age.
Rivas Hernandez’s remains were discovered Sept. 8, 2025, one day before her 15th birthday, inside a Tesla registered to Burke. The car had been towed from the Hollywood Hills to an impound lot after seemingly sitting abandoned for weeks.
Authorities were called after someone reported a strong odor coming from the car. Investigators found bags with decomposed human remains inside the vehicle, and forensic testing later identified them as belonging to Rivas Hernandez.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner revealed that her cause of death was “multiple penetrating injuries caused by object(s).” The manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Key takeaways from the preliminary hearing
In this courtroom sketch, David Anthony Burke is seen in court on July 21 in Los Angeles.
(AP Photo/Bill Robles)
Prosecutors allege that Burke first met Rivas Hernandez in 2022 and began a sexual relationship with her in 2023, when she was 13 years old and he was 18.
Los Angeles Police Department Detective Corey Farell testified about key pieces of digital evidence, including text messages exchanged between the pair that dealt with birth control, pregnancy, abortion and plans to move in together. Farell also described images of the two engaging in sexual acts that he said were found on Burke’s phone when Burke was 18 and 19 years old and Rivas Hernandez was 13. The images were not displayed in court because of their content.
Under questioning by the defense, Farell testified that Rivas Hernandez’s family knew she was spending time with the singer. The evidence included a notarized consent form from her parents that allowed her to travel to London with Burke in 2024, KNBC-TV reported.
Evidence presented by the defense also showed that in March 2025, Rivas Hernandez wrote via text message that she didn’t want anything to do with Burke anymore as the two argued over his relationship with another person. According to the text messages, at one point, she threatened to leak information about their alleged sexual relationship, end his career and kill him, the Associated Press reported.
On April 22, according to testimony, Rivas Hernandez repeatedly asked to see Burke. On April 23, the day prosecutors allege Rivas Hernandez was killed, Burke ordered a rideshare to take her to his home, according to the messages.
At 10:10 p.m., Burke texted Rivas Hernandez that the front door was open. About 20 minutes later, he sent another text asking where she was, but she never responded. Prosecutors allege Rivas Hernandez likely died during that 20-minute time period.
Burke’s defense team pointed to what it described as a lack of evidence, arguing that no witness or security footage shows Rivas Hernandez exiting the rideshare at Burke’s home.
Prosecutors also allege Burke used a fake name on Amazon to buy two chainsaws, a body bag, an inflatable pool, heavy-duty laundry bags and a “burn cage” incinerator in an effort to dismember Rivas Hernandez’s body in his garage and conceal evidence.
Investigators said evidence found in Burke’s garage was consistent with the dismemberment of the victim and that blood recovered from the garage matched the DNA of Rivas Hernandez.
Last week, prosecutors showed graphic photos of Rivas Hernandez’s dismembered and decomposed remains after they were found inside the Tesla registered to Burke on Sept. 8, 2025. LAPD homicide Det. Joshua Byers testified that he found the head and torso in a body bag, with the arms and legs in a garbage bag underneath. He also testified that two fingers were missing from one hand.
Last Wednesday’s testimony focused on the singer’s finances as prosecutors sought to show that protecting Burke’s lucrative music career was a motive for the alleged killing of the teen girl.
Financial witnesses testified that the singer had earned more than $10 million from his music between 2023 and 2025.
Benjamin Gregor, a money manager for Burke, testified that he had known Rivas Hernandez only by her first name before her dismembered remains were discovered in Burke’s Tesla.
Who is D4vd?
D4vd performs at Gobi Tent during the 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 20, 2025, in Indio, Calif.
(Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
Burke rose to fame on TikTok with his indie, R&B and alt-pop music. He has more than 18 million monthly Spotify listeners and is best known for songs like “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me,” which have each amassed nearly 2 billion streams. Several of his high-profile collaborations with Laufey, Kali Uchis and Holly Humberstone have been removed from streaming services.
In early September, he performed a sold-out headlining show at The Fillmore in Minneapolis, Minn., the same day police discovered human remains inside a Tesla registered to the singer. After Rivas Hernandez’s remains were found, several brands, like Crocs and Hollister, ended their partnerships with Burke, and his concert tour was canceled.
A new song purportedly by D4vd titled “Marcescence” mysteriously appeared on the singer’s Spotify page on July 16 for about eight hours before the song was removed. The track remains visible but unplayable.
‘Justice for Celeste’
A makeshift memorial for Celeste Rivas Hernandez, placed outside her home in Lake Elsinore, Calif., on April 21, 2026.
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A day after Burke was charged in April, Rivas Hernandez’s family issued a statement thanking investigators for “their hard work” on the case and “the people of Lake Elsinore for all their support.”
“Celeste was a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance. Every Friday night was movie night and we spent wonderful times together,” the family’s statement read. “We love her very much and she always told us that she loved us. We miss her deeply. All we want is justice for Celeste.”
If convicted, Burke faces a maximum sentence of death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. The district attorney’s office has not yet decided whether to pursue the death penalty.
