D4vd murder case moves forward with judge finalizing preliminary hearing date

Singer D4vd has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in his towed Tesla.

Warning: Graphic content.

LOS ANGELES — The murder case against singer and songwriter D4vd, who pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, will move forward with a preliminary hearing later this month.

D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, appeared for a hearing inside a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday after three postponements. A judge scheduled the preliminary hearing for July 21. It is expected to last three to five days.

Burke, 21, is charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances, lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14 and mutilating a body.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office alleges that Burke and Hernandez were romantically involved and that he stabbed her “before she ruined his music career,” according to court documents.

Prosecutors argue that he killed Hernandez in 2025 after she threatened to expose his criminal conduct. They also claim that Burke tried to cover up the killing by texting and calling Hernandez, asking her where she was, even though she was already dead.

According to court documents, prosecutors allege that Burke paid for a ride-share driver to drop Hernandez off at his Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025.

The District Attorney’s Office claims that Burke, under a fake name, purchased a shovel, body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, two chainsaws, a blue inflatable pool and a burn cage. All of the items were ordered on Amazon or Postmates and delivered to his home, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors also add that the burn cage was part of Burke’s alleged “plan to incinerate evidence.” He used the “blue inflatable pool to prevent her blood from spilling onto his garage floor” while she was dismembered, the DA’s Office wrote in the court filing.

Burke and his attorneys have denied all allegations.

Medical examiners determined that Hernandez was killed with “multiple penetrating wounds” in April 2025, several months before her dismembered, decomposing body was found in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke. Hernandez’s remains were discovered on Sept. 8, 2025, after police responded to reports of a foul smell attracting flies at the Hollywood Tow yard.

“For several weeks, or possibly months, defendant left the victim’s body to decompose inside his Tesla,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing in April. “He lied to friends, business associates, and others who noticed the strong smell of decay in and around his home and vehicle.”

During a court appearance in April, prosecutors claimed that Burke possessed a “significant amount of child pornography.” The attorneys representing the Rivas Hernandez family declined to comment on the development

“Celeste was just a child, under 14 years old, when David Burke allegedly engaged in repeated lewd and lascivious sexual relations with her,” Hochman said in a news release announcing the charges earlier this month. “But Burke’s actions did not allegedly stop there. When she threatened to expose his criminal conduct and devastate his musical career, Burke allegedly murdered her, cut up her body and stuffed her body in two bags that were placed in the front trunk of his car.”

The murder charges included special circumstances — lying in wait, committing the crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an investigation. If convicted as charged, Hochman said that Burke could face the maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

Chelsea Hylton, Dean Fioresi, Matthew Rodriguez and Austin Turner