D4vd to stand trial for murder after gruesome details revealed in hearing

A judge has determined musician David Anthony Burke, known as D4vd, will stand trial for murder in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

Read more McCray’s 2-run homer leads the Giants to a 3-0 win over the Brewers

Judge Charlaine Olmedo determined Monday there was probable cause that warranted a criminal trial. The decision came after a five-day pretrial hearing where testimony from law enforcement revealed new and gruesome details about the teen’s death.

Burke, 21, is accused of murdering and dismembering Hernandez after police say she threatened to reveal their sexual relationship. 

Hernandez disappeared after Burke allegedly invited her to his home on April 23, 2025, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Months later, on Sept. 8, the teen’s body was discovered in the trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke in a Los Angeles tow yard.

Burke was arrested on April 16, 2026, on multiple charges, including murder, sexual assault of a child and mutilation of remains. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

During the preliminary trial, new details about the events leading up to Hernandez’s death, along with new physical evidence, were revealed in court.

On the first day of the hearing, a Los Angeles Police Department detective testified that a chain saw and body bags were purchased using Burke’s credit cards, under a different name, and delivered to his home. The detective said one of the body bags also matched one that contained some of Hernandez’s remains. Images of Hernandez’s dismembered remains were shown in court, where blue fragments were visible on the body. Prosecutors allege the blue fragments were from an inflatable pool purchased by Burke.

Body camera footage also showed Burke being interviewed by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and allowing them to search his home, according to the Associated Press. 

Read more Giants 3B Casey Schmitt leaves game versus Brewers in 2nd inning due to apparent leg injury

Other physical evidence was revealed last week after an LAPD criminologist testified that blood stains found in Burke’s home, including on a Tesla charger, was a match for Hernandez. During questioning by Burke’s attorney, the criminologist said the DNA could potentially have been left from a person touching a surface and there’s no way to know how long the DNA had been in the location.

On Friday, prosecutors presented text messages allegedly between Burke and Hernandez purportedly showing she became pregnant and had an abortion a year before she went missing. The messages were reportedly via Burke’s iCloud. 

On Monday, prosecutors showed text messages between Hernandez and Burke on the night she disappeared when she reportedly took an Uber to his home, according to KTLA-TV. Reportedly they showed a stream of text messages between the two before Hernandez’s phone went silent. The messages also reportedly show Hernandez threatening to tell her father “lies” about the relationship in addition to revealing damaging information to the media and Burke’s mother, according to the LA Times. Those messages were reportedly sent the day before she disappeared.

The trial has attracted intense media scrutiny, with social media users looking for signs of a relationship between D4vd and Hernandez before he was arrested. On Saturday, D4vd’s Apple music page was reportedly briefly hacked, and a fake song titled “I Did It” was uploaded. A thumbnail image for the song showed the Tesla where Hernandez’s body was found. The song was then deleted from the page. 

A phone message requesting comment from Burke’s attorneys was not immediately returned by the time of publication. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.