D4vd Waives May Hearing in Teen Murder Case

Singer D4vd was back in a Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday, and the case against him just got a clearer timeline. David Anthony Burke, the 21-year-old known professionally as D4vd, appeared before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo for a status conference in the murder case involving 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez — the Riverside County girl whose dismembered remains were found last year inside the front trunk of his Tesla.

Burke’s attorneys asked for more time, telling the court it wasn’t realistic to proceed with the previously scheduled May 26 preliminary hearing due to delays in getting evidence uploaded. When Judge Olmedo asked Burke directly whether he was willing to waive his right to that date, he answered simply: “Yes, your honor.”

The preliminary hearing is now set for June 29 and is expected to run at least five days — the proceeding where a judge will determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to bring the case to trial. A status conference will take place June 17. Defense attorneys had initially pushed for an immediate preliminary hearing after Burke’s April arrest, but backed off after prosecutors began turning over what they’ve described as a massive volume of digital evidence.

What Prosecutors Say Happened

The charges against Burke are staggering. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has filed special-circumstance allegations of lying in wait, murder for financial gain, and murder of a witness — any one of which could make Burke eligible for the death penalty. The DA’s office has not yet announced whether it will seek that penalty.

According to prosecutors, Burke and Celeste first met in January 2022 when she was just 11 years old. They allege a sexual relationship began in November 2023, when Celeste was 13 and Burke was 18. Text messages between the two, prosecutors say, contain references to sex, pregnancy, abortion, and Plan B emergency contraceptive. Explicit photographs allegedly documenting the relationship were also found on Burke’s phone. Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman told the court last month that search warrants turned up “a significant amount of child pornography” on Burke’s devices.

The two reportedly “broke up” in November 2024 but continued to communicate — and, prosecutors allege, continued to have sexual contact. By early 2025, the relationship was fracturing. Court filings describe a lengthy argument the night before Celeste’s death, with text messages laying out her jealousy over Burke’s relationships with other women and her growing fury at what she felt was his deception about their future together.

Then, according to the prosecution’s nine-page brief filed last month, Celeste threatened to go public. Burke’s debut studio album was set to drop just days later. Prosecutors allege that knowing she intended to expose him — and end his career — Burke sent an Uber to bring Celeste from her Lake Elsinore home to his Hollywood Hills residence on April 23, 2025. She was never seen alive again.

“Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened, very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out,” the court filing states. “At no time did he call law enforcement or 911 or take her to an emergency room to save her life.”

Prosecutors say Burke then sent Celeste text messages asking where she was — part of what they describe as a premeditated plan to cover up the murder, since she was already dead by the time he sent them.

The Evidence Found in His Garage

What allegedly came next is among the most disturbing details in the case. Prosecutors allege Burke ordered a chainsaw, a second chainsaw, a shovel, a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, a “burn cage,” and a blue inflatable pool — all delivered to his home under a fake name. According to the court filing, he placed Celeste’s body into the inflatable pool to prevent blood from spilling onto his garage floor, then used a chainsaw to sever her limbs.

“Small blue plastic fragments were found embedded in the victim’s remains,” the filing states. When LAPD detectives executed a search warrant at Burke’s home on September 16, 2025, they found the inflatable pool in the garage — containing multiple linear cuts — along with biological samples that tested positive for blood. DNA analysis confirmed those samples matched Celeste’s genetic profile.

Prosecutors also allege Burke amputated Celeste’s left ring and pinky fingers because her ring finger bore a tattoo of his name. Those fingers have not been recovered. Burke himself has a matching tattoo.

Celeste’s badly decomposed and dismembered body was discovered September 8, 2025 — just days after what would have been her 15th birthday — in the front trunk of Burke’s Tesla Model X at a Hollywood tow yard, where the car had been towed three days earlier while parked about 400 feet from his home. Surveillance video, prosecutors say, confirms Burke was the last person to drive the vehicle on July 29, 2025, before he left Los Angeles on a concert tour. The head and torso were found in one bag; her severed limbs in another.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Celeste’s death a homicide caused by “multiple penetrating injuries.” The autopsy was performed September 10, 2025, but its results were sealed by a judge while investigators built their case. The manner and cause of death weren’t officially determined until December 9, 2025.

The Defense’s Position

Celeste had been reported missing by her mother in 2024, when the girl was 13. Her mother had previously told reporters her daughter had a boyfriend named David. In February 2024, Hernandez was reported missing to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department by her parents, who were concerned about her involvement with Burke. She returned home and had her phone taken away — but prosecutors allege Burke paid a junior high school student $1,000 to give her a new device so they could stay in touch.

Burke was arrested on April 16 by LAPD officers. His legal team — attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter — issued a statement at the time pushing back hard on the allegations.

“Let us be clear, the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez, and he was not the cause of her death,” they said. “We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”

Since then, Burke’s lawyers have not commented on their defense strategy. The preliminary hearing on June 29 will be the first major public airing of the evidence — and the first real indication of what, if anything, the defense plans to say in response.