• Singer D4vd (David Anthony Burke) appeared in court Tuesday and agreed to waive his May 26 preliminary hearing
• A new preliminary hearing is set for June 29, expected to last at least five days, with a status conference on June 17
• Burke, 21, is charged with capital murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and mutilation of human remains
• Prosecutors allege he stabbed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez after she threatened to expose their relationship and derail his music career
• Special-circumstance allegations — including murder of a witness and murder for financial gain — make Burke eligible for the death penalty

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.

The post D4vd Waives May Hearing in Teen Murder Case appeared first on Cream.

• D4vd’s younger brother Caleb Burke denied covering for his brother in a lengthy Instagram Story statement
• D4vd was arrested April 16 and charged with first-degree murder, sexual abuse of a child under 14, and mutilation of human remains in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas
• Caleb, around 20, recently launched a music career under the stage name Kova, releasing two songs on Spotify and Apple Music
• Fans have accused Caleb of capitalizing on his brother’s notoriety with the timing of his music launch
• Caleb was previously summoned to appear before the grand jury in the case but prosecutors were unable to get him to testify

Caleb Burke has had enough of the speculation — and he’s saying so publicly.

D4vd’s younger brother took to his Instagram Story Thursday to push back against social media users who have accused him of helping cover for his brother, the singer born David Anthony Burke, who was arrested April 16 and charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances, sexual abuse of a child under 14, and mutilation of human remains in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas.

“I’ve seen people say that I knew what was going on and was protecting my brother. This is not true at all,” Caleb wrote in the lengthy post.

He explained that he’s largely stayed quiet because the case is an “ongoing legal matter,” but felt he could no longer sit on the sidelines while accusations about his own conduct kept circulating. Caleb said he hasn’t lived with D4vd in years and that the two were never particularly close — crossing paths mainly during family visits or when he’d stop by tour dates.

Addressing the Backstage Video

One specific allegation Caleb went out of his way to address: a backstage video that’s been making rounds online, with some users claiming it shows him sneaking Celeste into one of D4vd’s concerts. He denied it flatly. According to Caleb, Celeste was already at the show when the clip was filmed, and the footage was captured after the concert had ended — the two were simply walking back after grabbing something from a fan near the stage.

He also said he was around Celeste only a handful of times, when he was 15, and insisted he “did not know her age.”

As for where he stands on the charges themselves — Caleb had already made that fairly clear. Back on April 25, just five days after D4vd was officially charged on April 20, he posted to his Instagram Story: “All pedefiles [sic] and rapists should die. Period.” D4vd has pleaded not guilty.

In Thursday’s statement, Caleb was direct: “I don’t want to make this horrible situation about me. I want justice for Celeste and her family.”

A Music Launch at the Worst Possible Moment

The statement comes at a complicated time for Caleb, who recently launched his own music career under the stage name Kova — opening social media accounts as Cara Kova and releasing two songs, “Imaginary Love” and “S*x,” on Spotify and Apple Music. Spotify credits him as artist, songwriter, composer, producer, and engineer. The music draws stylistic comparisons to D4vd’s sound — dreamy, emotionally-driven, built for streaming — and Caleb has previously performed live alongside his older brother and once went by the stage name Cvleb, a nod to D4vd’s own stylized branding.

Back in 2024, Caleb was featured in a short Spotify documentary about D4vd, speaking about life with his famous sibling. Now, the sibling association cuts very differently.

The timing has not gone unnoticed. On X, fans reacted with a mix of disbelief and suspicion.

“Whole family tone-deaf as hell…. Dude really saw his sibling facing murder charges and dropped sex songs!!” one user wrote. Another posted simply: “ain’t no way bro needs to take a step back and lay low.” Others were more pointed: “Is he trying to garner attention off his brother?” and “it is interesting timing to launch a whole music career right when D4VD’s case is trending.”

It’s a brutal position to be in — trying to step out of a famous sibling’s shadow at the exact moment that shadow has turned into something much darker. And Caleb’s attempt to distance himself from the case is complicated by the fact that he was previously summoned to appear before the grand jury investigating Celeste’s murder, though prosecutors were ultimately unable to get him to testify.

D4vd was dropped by Interscope Records amid the investigation, and has a preliminary hearing scheduled later this month. Celeste Rivas was 14 years old when her body was found decomposing in the trunk of D4vd’s Tesla. Her family has set up a GoFundMe to help cover costs in the wake of her death.

Caleb ended his statement the way he began it — not with a defense of his brother, but with a plea for something bigger: justice for Celeste.

The post D4vd’s Brother Caleb Denies Cover-Up Claims appeared first on Cream.