US singer D4vd (21) must stand trial for murder. Judge Charlaine Olmedo ruled last Monday at the Superior Court in Los Angeles that the evidence against the 21-year-old is sufficient for a trial. This is reported by CNN and People magazine, among others. The musician, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is accused of killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez and dismembering her body.
The judge ordered that Burke remain in custody without bail. The formal arraignment is scheduled for August 31. When the trial will begin has not yet been determined.
Five Days of Evidence Presentation
The decision was preceded by a five-day preliminary hearing in which, according to CNN, more than ten witnesses testified. Olmedo only had to decide whether the prosecution had presented sufficient grounds for a trial. This standard is lower than the burden of proof that would later be required for a conviction.
"We expect the evidence at trial to be overwhelming," Hochman said. His office had only presented a small portion of the available material over the past week. In the event of a conviction, Burke faces life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. Whether the prosecution will seek the death penalty remains undecided.
The defendant has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The charges include first-degree murder under special circumstances, continuous mistreatment of a child under 14, and mutilation of human remains. His defense had previously stated that the actual evidence would show that he did not kill the girl. An attorney for the singer declined to comment on the judge's decision.
Body in the Trunk of a Tesla
The girl's remains were found on September 8, 2025, in two bags in the front trunk of Burke's Tesla, as People reports. Three days earlier, the car had been towed near his house in the Hollywood Hills. It had apparently been parked there for months; the singer was on a world tour at that time.
The prosecution believes that Burke killed the girl on April 23, 2025, one day after an argument about his contacts with other women and just days before the release of his debut album. To dispose of the body, he allegedly ordered tools online and from a hardware store.
Chat Histories Analyzed
Mobile phone data is central to the evidence. Investigators analyzed location data, photos, and messages from the singer's iCloud account. On his iPhone, according to an investigator's testimony, they found more than 40 images of child mistreatment. According to the prosecution, the two first exchanged messages on August 8, 2022, when the girl was eleven years old. The inappropriate contact allegedly began in November 2023, when the girl was 13 and Burke was 18 years old.
On the evening of April 23, Celeste wrote at 10:02 p.m. that she was almost there and he should open the door. Eight minutes later, the gate opened. It was the last message from her phone. Investigators believe she died in the following 20 minutes. Around 11:30 p.m., the singer's phone and car left the property. The vehicle data led to a remote area in Santa Barbara County, where the girl's ID was later found on a road.
The defense pointed to messages in which Celeste herself asked for the meeting and threatened the singer. Prosecutor Beth Silverman countered that this was a case of a minor being manipulated by an adult.
The Family in the Courtroom
The girl's parents attended parts of the hearing. When images of the remains were shown, the mother bowed her head and cried, family attorney Patrick Steinfeld told CNN. After the decision, he said the family was relieved that the preliminary hearing was over. They were grateful for the work of the prosecution and the Los Angeles Police Department.
