Platinum-selling musician D4vd appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday and had his upcoming evidentiary hearing in his murder case pushed out another month, to June 29.
His defense asked for the delay after prosecutors released a chilling evidence brief on April 29 that revealed, for the first time, their detailed theory of how the remains of 14-year-old victim Celeste Rivas Hernandez ended up dismembered and severely decomposed in his towed Tesla. Prosecutors allege the musician, born David Anthony Burke, lured Rivas to his Los Angeles rental home, fatally stabbed her on April 23, 2025, dismembered her body with a chainsaw, and concealed the remains for months.
Minutes before the explosive filing went public two weeks ago, D4vd appeared in court on April 29 and nodded in agreement as his lawyer, Blair Berk, said he was “presumed innocent.” At the time, his defense said he still wanted to fast-track his preliminary hearing. Berk fought to seal the explosive brief, saying her team had only received it that morning and that it might taint a future jury pool. The judge denied the request.
On Tuesday, Burke appeared in a similar orange jail uniform and spoke only to say he agreed to the new delay, a court source confirmed to Rolling Stone. The hearing was previously set to begin May 26. Burke is now due back in court on June 17 for another status conference.
The “Romantic Homicide” singer, now 21, was charged last month and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains. Prosecutors added special circumstance allegations of murder of a witness, murder for financial gain, and lying in wait.
In their nine-page evidence brief, prosecutors claim surveillance video shows Burke driving his Tesla on July 29, 2025, before parking it near his rental home and leaving for a concert tour. The car was later towed and impounded, with investigators making the grisly discovery of Rivas’ remains on Sept. 8, 2025.
“For several weeks, or possibly months, defendants left the victim’s body to decompose inside his Tesla. He lied to friends, business associates, and others who noticed the strong smell of decay in and around his home and vehicle,” the brief, obtained by Rolling Stone, alleges.
The filing claims Burke met Rivas when she was only 11 and started a sexual relationship with her when she turned 13. When Rivas’ family reported her as a potential runaway, authorities allegedly found Burke’s number in her phone records and informed him of her age. Burke “continued to pursue” Rivas after that, prosecutors say, allegedly paying a classmate $1,000 to deliver a secret phone so they could stay in touch.
Recovered text messages between Burke and Rivas allegedly reference sex, pregnancy, and abortion. Prosecutors say the pair argued the night before Burke allegedly paid an Uber driver to ferry Rivas from her family’s home more than an hour outside Los Angeles, in Lake Elsinore, to his rental house in the Hollywood Hills. They allege Burke killed Rivas almost immediately after she arrived because she purportedly had threatened to go public with details of the alleged sex abuse.
“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 filing says.
Prosecutors allege Burke later bought a shovel, chainsaws, a body bag, and a blue inflatable kiddie pool under a fake name online and used the items to dismember Rivas in his garage. They say blood evidence found in his rental home’s garage is a match for Rivas, and they claim he lied to people who noticed the smell of her decomposing remains.
If convicted as charged, Burke faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
