Celeste Rivas Hernandez: D4vd Murder Case Charges and Hearing

The murder case against singer d4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is in its pretrial phase, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for July 21, 2026, in Los Angeles Superior Court. Burke, 20, is being held without bail on seven charges tied to the April 2025 killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose dismembered remains were found in his impounded Tesla in September 2025. He pleaded not guilty at his April 20, 2026 arraignment, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.¹

The Charges He Faces

District Attorney Nathan Hochman filed seven charges against Burke under Case No. 26CJCF02399: first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains, along with three special circumstance allegations (murder of a witness, murder for financial gain, and lying in wait) and a special allegation for personal use of a deadly weapon, specifically a sharp instrument.¹

The special circumstance allegations make the case eligible for the death penalty under California law. The DA’s office has said “a decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made at a later date.”¹

What Prosecutors Say Happened

Prosecutors allege Burke met Celeste when she was 11 and he was 18, and began sexually abusing her when she was 13.² In February 2024, Burke allegedly paid a classmate $1,000 to give Celeste a phone.³ Investigators recovered text messages between the two referencing sexual activity, pregnancy, abortion, and emergency contraception, along with what prosecutors called a “significant amount” of child sexual abuse material on Burke’s iPhone.⁴

According to the prosecution’s evidentiary filing, on April 22, 2025, Celeste and Burke argued at length over text, and she threatened to disclose the relationship in order to “end his career and destroy his life.”² The next evening, Burke allegedly sent an Uber to Celeste’s home in Lake Elsinore. The car picked her up around 8:40 p.m. and dropped her at his Hollywood Hills residence at about 10:10 p.m.³ Prosecutors say she was killed shortly after arriving, alleging Burke “stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out.”

In the weeks that followed, prosecutors allege, Burke used a fake name to buy two chainsaws, an inflatable blue pool, a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, a shovel, and a “burn cage” intended for incinerating evidence.⁵ They allege he dismembered Celeste’s remains in his garage using the chainsaws and the inflatable pool, and that blue plastic fragments from the pool were later found embedded in the cut surfaces of the remains.⁶ Prosecutors also allege Burke amputated Celeste’s left ring finger, which bore a tattoo of his name, in an apparent effort to hide his connection to her. Both had matching “Shhh” tattoos on their right index fingers.³

When detectives executed a search warrant at Burke’s home on September 17, 2025, they reported finding evidence in the garage “consistent with the dismemberment of the victim’s body in the inflatable pool, which contained multiple linear cuts.”⁷ The evidentiary filing said Burke acted “knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened.”²

Autopsy and Forensic Findings

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner conducted the autopsy on September 10, 2025. Because of the extensive time that had passed since Celeste’s death, the body showed “severe postmortem change,” limiting certain findings.⁷ The cause of death was listed as “multiple penetrating injuries caused by object(s),” and the manner was ruled a homicide on December 9, 2025. The examiner identified two penetrating wounds to her torso, one to the right abdomen with injury to the liver and another to the left chest.⁸ An independent forensic pathologist consulted by CNN said the injuries described were “most consistent with stabbing.”⁶

Celeste’s death certificate was amended in April 2026. An initial record from September 2025 stated she had not been pregnant in the prior year, but the coroner changed the pregnancy status to “unknown” on April 22, 2026.⁹

The Defense’s Position

Burke is represented by attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter. In a statement after his arrest, the defense declared: “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. We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”¹⁰

Berk characterized the DA’s evidentiary filing as “one-sided” and “replete with hearsay,” arguing its public release could taint a future jury pool.³ At a May 1, 2026 hearing, she formally moved to seal the nine-page prosecution filing, citing the “white hot focus and attention on this case.” Judge Charlaine Olmedo denied the request to seal the main filing but agreed to keep certain other pieces of evidence sealed.⁵

Digital Evidence and Discovery

Part of the reason the case is moving slowly is the sheer volume of digital evidence. Prosecutors are working through more than 40 terabytes of material collected from Burke’s phone, computers, tablets, and iCloud account, which alone held roughly three terabytes of data. The trove includes wiretap results, police body-camera footage, photographs, and DNA trace evidence.¹¹ As of late April 2026, about 30 percent of that discovery had been turned over to the defense.⁴

Investigators also convened three grand juries between November 2025 and February 2026 to compel testimony. Surveillance footage placed Burke as the last person to drive the Tesla in which Celeste’s body was found.⁵

Preliminary Hearing and What Comes Next

The preliminary hearing will determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to send the case to trial. It has been delayed multiple times: originally set for May 1, 2026, then pushed to May 26, then June 29, and most recently rescheduled to July 21, 2026, after Judge Olmedo granted a defense continuance motion on June 17, 2026.¹² The hearing is expected to last about five days.¹³ A status conference is set for July 7, 2026.¹⁰

Burke remains jailed without bail, and the DA’s office has not announced whether it will pursue capital punishment.¹⁰

The Victim and Her Family

Celeste Rivas Hernandez lived in Lake Elsinore, a small city in Riverside County, and attended a middle school in the Lake Elsinore Unified School District.¹⁴ She had been reported missing once before, in April 2024, when she was 13, and later returned home.¹⁵

Her parents, Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez, released their first public statement on April 21, 2026, the day after Burke’s arraignment. “Celeste was a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance,” they wrote. “Every Friday night was movie night and we spent wonderful times together. We love her very much and she always told us that she loved us. We miss her deeply. All we want is justice for Celeste.”¹⁶

The family’s attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, said informing the parents of the allegations in the prosecution’s filing was “the most difficult thing I’ve had to do in 37 years as a lawyer.” Jesus Rivas also pushed back on rumors that Burke had paid the family, saying: “I never had any contact with this guy, and we haven’t received any money from him or anyone in his family.”¹⁷

1
LA County District Attorney. Singer D4vd Charged With Capital Murder of 14-Year-Old Girl
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CBC. D4vd Celeste Rivas Hernandez Killing
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CNN. D4vd Timeline, Celeste Rivas
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ABC7. D4vd Celeste Rivas Hernandez Murder Case Updates
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BBC. D4vd Charged With Murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez
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CNN. D4vd Celeste Rivas Hernandez Autopsy
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ABC News. D4vd Murder Case Timeline
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ABC7 News. D4vd Arrested, Celeste Rivas Hernandez Autopsy Report Released
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NewsNation. Celeste’s Death Record, Pregnancy
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ABC7. D4vd Case Status Conference Set
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Billboard. D4vd Murder Case Prosecutors Digital Evidence
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USA Today. D4vd Case News Updates, Murder Court Hearing Postponed
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NBC Los Angeles. D4vd Celeste Rivas Murder Court Date Status Conference
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KTLA. Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s Dismembered Body Found in D4vd’s Car
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NBC Los Angeles. D4vd Court Hearing, Celeste Rivas Hernandez Murder
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ABC News. Family of Celeste Rivas Hernandez Speaks After D4vd Charged
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Rolling Stone. Celeste Rivas D4vd Shock Pain, Dad Jesus Rivas