D4vd in court: Defense presents evidence teen's family allowed relationship

Name: D4vd hearing: Gruesome autopsy images shown in court
Uploaded: 2026-07-27T07:07:39-07:00
Description: Grim details continue to emerge involving the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

D4vd hearing: Gruesome autopsy images shown in court

Grim details continue to emerge involving the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

Warning: The videos and information in this story contain graphic details. Discretion is advised.

LOS ANGELES – Testimony resumes Monday in downtown Los Angeles for the fifth and likely final day of the preliminary hearing for David Anthony Burke, the 21-year-old singer known as D4vd.

A judge is expected to decide whether Burke will stand trial for first-degree murder, child sexual abuse, and mutilation of human remains in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

What we know:

On Monday, Los Angeles Police Department Detective Corey Ferrel continued his testimony, reviewing key selections from an estimated 9,000 text messages exchanged between Burke and Rivas Hernandez leading up to the day of her death.

Prosecutors focused heavily on a crucial timeline between April 22 and April 25, 2025. Messages from April 22 show Rivas Hernandez questioning Burke about another woman who posted on social media while inside his Hollywood Hills home. The following day, the two set up an Uber that would transport Rivas Hernandez from her family’s Riverside County home to Burke’s residence.

Prosecution Draws Crucial 21-Minute Window

The prosecution drew a critical sequence of events on April 24, 2025.

8:39 p.m.: Burke orders an Uber to bring Rivas Hernandez from her family's home in Elsinore to his Hollywood Hills residence.
10:10 p.m.: Burke texts her "gate open door unlocked" as Uber records confirm her arrival at the home.
10:31 p.m. – 10:36 p.m: Just 21 minutes after Celeste's arrival, Burke is accused of sending a series of unanswered texts reading "where you at?", "hello," and "bro, celeste." Prosecutors note she never replies or sends another message from her phone again.
11:30 PM: Cellular records and GPS mapping show Burke begins driving north toward Santa Barbara.
Overnight: Tesla location logs displayed programmed stops along his route, including Lake Cachuma and a Supercharger station in Santa Ynez near where the victim's passport card was later discovered.

Defense Points to Family Consent, Volatile Messages

During cross-examination, defense attorneys presented additional text exchanges showing that Rivas Hernandez insisted on coming to Burke’s house on April 23 despite him initially telling her he was busy. The defense also highlighted volatile messages in the hours leading up to her arrival, where Rivas Hernandez threatened to "end your career, end your life," and lie to her father about him.

To counter claims of a secret or abusive dynamic, the defense argued that Rivas Hernandez’s family was fully aware of the relationship and permitted it. Attorneys introduced a signed travel permission slip from her parents allowing her to travel overseas to London with Burke, and noted her sister accompanied them on a trip to Las Vegas.

The defense further highlighted texts sent right before her arrival showing Burke asking her about getting In-N-Out burger, arguing he was planning dinner rather than a murder. Additionally, detective testimony acknowledged that in text messages from 2022 to 2023, Rivas Hernandez had repeatedly told Burke she was 16 or 18 years old.

Burke's attorneys then made a motion for insufficient evidence on all counts, pointing out there is no evidence that he had any intention to kill the Inland Empire teen.

Apple Music Profile Allegedly Hacked

Over the weekend, Burke's official Apple Music artist page was briefly compromised. On Saturday, an unauthorized track called "I Did It," appeared on his profile, utilizing an AI-synthesized version of Burke's voice. The song's cover art displayed a photograph of the impounded Tesla frunk where Celeste's remains were discovered, and the lyrics explicitly referenced the 14-year-old by name.

Apple removed the track shortly after it was uploaded, though clips of the song circulated widely across social media over the weekend as the high-profile hearing reached its final stage.

Burke was arrested and charged in the murder of Rivas Hernandez, who had been reported missing out of Riverside County multiple times beginning in 2024.

Previous Preliminary Hearing Details Revealed

Dig deeper:

Prosecutors argue that Burke engaged in an illegal sexual relationship with Rivas Hernandez and murdered her when she threatened to expose him ahead of his debut album release. Throughout the emotional proceeding, prosecutors presented a continuous chain of digital paper trails, financial records, cell tower GPS tracking, and graphic forensic testimony to establish probable cause in the teen's brutal killing.

Digital evidence introduced in court revealed the pair first connected on social media via Discord when Rivas Hernandez was just 11 years old and he was 17. Text messages and recovered iCloud files documented a secret relationship, travel together, and a January 2024 pregnancy that ended in an abortion, with Burke asking her to keep their intimate relationship secret.

To establish a multimillion-dollar motive, an Interscope Records executive testified that Burke’s record deal and brand endorsements were worth upwards of $13 million—a massive fortune prosecutors argue he killed to protect. Defense attorneys countered that Burke’s mother handled his day-to-day finances and that he was largely unaware of his own net worth.

Location data provided a key geographic link connecting Burke to evidence left miles away. An LAPD cellular expert working alongside the FBI testified that cell tower logs and GPS data from Burke's phone and Tesla showed simultaneous trips from his Hollywood Hills home to a Santa Barbara highway site where Celeste’s passport card was found in tall grass. Those trips occurred on three separate occasions, including hours after the alleged murder. Months later, the 14-year-old's dismembered remains were discovered inside two bags in the front trunk ("frunk") of Burke’s impounded Tesla at a Hollywood tow yard, surrounded by 11 air fresheners, maggots, and severe decomposition.

Medical examiners and LAPD criminalists provided graphic forensic details linking Burke's home directly to the victim’s remains. Forensic testing revealed hidden bloodstains across Burke’s garage floor, rubber mats, tarps, and a blue inflatable pool. In a crucial piece of physical evidence, a trace analysis expert physically matched tiny blue plastic fragments recovered during the autopsy and clinging to the victim's leggings directly to cuts in the garage pool "like puzzle pieces."

The deputy medical examiner testified that Rivas Hernandez died from two fatal penetrating stab wounds to her torso before her body was dismembered with a power saw.

"She is silenced, but you know what? She is speaking to us through all these injuries," said former LAPD Detective Moses Castillo, who observed the graphic autopsy photographs displayed inside the courtroom.

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The other side:

Throughout the hearing, defense attorneys aggressively pushed back on investigators' evidence collection, highlighting that two chainsaws found in the garage and a third mini saw discovered inside the house were not collected into evidence after initial swabs tested negative for blood. They also noted that the passport found in Santa Barbara was handled with bare hands by a road worker.

Burke and his legal team maintain his innocence.

The backstory:

On Sept. 8, 2025, the remains of Rivas Hernandez were discovered inside a Tesla registered to the singer at a Hollywood tow yard. Investigators said the vehicle had been impounded after it was illegally parked in the Hollywood Hills, where Burke was renting a home for a reported $20,000 a month.

Prosecutors previously stated in court that the teenager's body was so severely decomposed that the medical examiner had to rely on dental records for identification. According to an autopsy report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, Rivas Hernandez's cause of death was ruled a homicide caused by "multiple penetrating injuries with unspecified objects."

Investigators determined she was killed on April 23, 2025. Nearly a year later, Burke was arrested and subsequently charged with first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains. The criminal complaint also includes special circumstance allegations of murder of a witness, murder for financial gain, and lying in wait.

Timeline:

Key dates in the investigation include:

Feb. 17, 2024: Deputies conduct a welfare check at Burke's home; he is informed Rivas Hernandez is 13 years old.
April 22–23, 2025: Rivas Hernandez allegedly threatened to expose their relationship during an argument; investigators believe she was murdered on April 23.
April 25, 2025: Burke’s debut album, Withered, is released.
May–July 2025: Prosecutors allege Burke used aliases to buy chainsaws, a body bag, a pool, and a burn box.
Sept. 8, 2025: The 14-year-old's remains are found inside an impounded Tesla registered to Burke in a Hollywood tow yard.
April 17, 2026: Burke is arrested and charged with first-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
July 27, 2026: Preliminary hearing enters Day 5 as testimony resumes in downtown Los Angeles.

What's next:

On Monday, a superior court judge is expected to rule at the conclusion of arguments on whether Burke will face a jury trial in the murder case. Burke remains held without bail.

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The Source: This report is based on Christina Gonzalez's courtroom reporting, police testimony, medical examiner findings, and previous FOX 11 reports.

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