A court has ordered d4vd, born David Burke, to go to trial on a charge of first-degree murder and other alleged offenses after a five-day preliminary hearing. Prosecutors described in graphic detail their allegations of Burke killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Los Angeles Judge Charlaine Olmedo said the evidence prosecutors presented was strong enough for Burke to face trial on charges of murder with an aggravating factor, lewd acts with a child under 14, and mutilating a body.
News organizations reported Monday that Judge Olmedo ordered Burke to remain in jail without bail. “The people have met their burden on all counts,” Olmedo said, as reported by the Associated Press. Prosecutors still have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt at the trial that Burke committed the offense for which he is charged. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for August.
Background on the Case
Burke, 21, has pleaded not guilty to all counts after being arrested and charged by Los Angeles police in April. Over the five-day hearing, prosecutors told the court that Burke had met Rivas Hernandez when she was 11 and began sexually abusing her at 13. They alleged that text messages showed she had gotten pregnant and had an abortion. The two had argued in the days and hours before her death, in part about another person Burke was seeing, with the teenager threatening to expose Burke and ruin his career.
Prosecutors alleged that Burke sent an Uber to get Rivas Hernandez and bring her to his home where he stabbed her to death, dismembered her body with a chainsaw before putting her remains in the trunk of a Tesla that he drove around for weeks or months then stashed in a tow yard. Investigators discovered her remains in the stowed car, which was registered in Burke’s name, prosecutors said, in September.
Evidence Presented
Prosecutors told the court they can show that Burke ordered chainsaws and other supplies he used in his garage and that blood, which matched Rivas Hernandez’s DNA, was found there. Photos of Burke’s sexual abuse of Rivas Hernandez were on his phone, according to accounts of prosecutors’ statements.
Following the judge’s order, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman put out a statement saying, “What was presented by our Office over the course of the last week is a small but illustrative fraction of the evidence investigators have accumulated that proves defendant Burke is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the brutal murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. This has been a parent’s worst nightmare, hearing the ghoulish details of how their child was killed, dismembered and left as trash.
D4vd allegedly squandered his fame and fortune by brutally killing a young girl because he feared their illicit sexual relationship would ruin his aspiring career. The only headlines that will accompany his stage name from here forward will be about the vicious murder of a young girl.”
Defense Argument
Burke’s defense counsel argued at the preliminary hearing that the evidence was too weak and the murder charge should be dismissed. “There’s no evidence that Mr. Burke harbored a deliberate intent to kill Miss Hernandez,” Marilyn Bednarski, Burke’s attorney, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. Rivas Hernandez was the one that had “malice” towards Burke, the defense counsel was reported to have told the court.
Burke’s counsel argued that a medical examiner concluding the cause of death was homicide by two stab wounds was too vague for a murder charge. Defense lawyers also presented evidence that Rivas Hernandez had threatened violence against Burke, including killing and mutilating him. She had asked to come see Burke before her death, which he reluctantly agreed to.
Music Career
Burke’s musical rise came in 2022 after releasing lo-fi indie rock and pop songs like “Romantic Homicide,” which went viral on TikTok, and “Here with Me,” the former earning him a record deal from Darkroom and Interscope Records. He released two EPs in 2023, performed at Coachella 2025, and, that same year, put out his first album Withered just two days after the investigators said Rivas Hernandez died.
The discovery of her body in September and investigators looking into Burke led to label and most commercial support as well as tour plans for d4vd being pulled. Burke could face the death penalty, but prosecutors have yet to say if they will pursue that punishment.
In conclusion, the case against d4vd will proceed to trial, with prosecutors presenting a strong case against the musician. The evidence presented during the preliminary hearing has been deemed sufficient to move forward with the charges, and Burke will now face a trial by jury. The outcome of the trial is uncertain, but one thing is clear: the music career of d4vd has been forever marred by the allegations against him.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte, widely regarded as the “Shakespeare of Sh*tposts,” is a video game expert with a unique knack for turning pixels into punchlines.
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