Way cleared for pop singer D4vd to stand trial on murder, mutilation charges

Prosecutors have presented sufficient evidence for the indie pop vocalist known as D4vd to stand trial on charges he fatally stabbed and dismembered a 14-year-old girl who threatened to expose their clandestine relationship, ​a Los Angeles judge ruled on Monday. Judge Charlaine Olmedo found there was probable cause for a jury to decide the fate of David Anthony Burke, 21, ‌whose breakout major-label music success as a recording artist named D4vd (pronounced “David”) was cut short by his arrest last year. He spent five days in a packed downtown courtroom shackled in his seat as prosecutors presented graphic witness testimony and crime-scene photos to convince Olmedo that their case met the minimum legal standard to put Burke on trial. The victim’s parents were present for most of the testimony.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman ​told reporters during the first day of the proceedings that his office would decide later whether to seek the death penalty. He spent five days in a packed downtown courtroom shackled in his seat as prosecutors presented graphic witness testimony and crime-scene photos to convince Olmedo that their case met the minimum legal standard to put Burke on trial. The victim’s parents were present for most of the testimony. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman ​told reporters during the first day of the proceedings that his office would decide later whether to seek the death penalty.

His debut studio album was released in April 2025, in the week that prosecutors say his underage girlfriend, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, went missing and was stabbed ​to death. Her decomposing remains were found five months later crammed into the trunk of a Tesla sedan that authorities say was registered to Burke. The car had been towed to an ​impoundment lot where workers noticed the stench of decay emanating from the vehicle and called police. The singer-songwriter was arrested in April of this year and charged with first-degree murder, mutilation of human remains and child sexual abuse.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges during an April 20 arraignment in which his attorney, Blair Berk, vehemently professed her client’s innocence. “We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas ​Hernandez, nor was he the cause of her death,” Berk said then.