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Platinum recording artist D4vd appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday and witnessed, how his upcoming evidentiary hearing in his murder case was postponed again by a month – to June 29th.
His defense requested the postponement after prosecutors released a harrowing brief of evidence on April 29 that laid out for the first time their detailed theory of how the remains of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez ended up dismembered and badly decomposed in his towed Tesla. According to investigators, the musician, real name David Anthony Burke, lured Rivas to his rented home in Los Angeles, stabbed her to death on April 23, 2025, dismembered her body with a chainsaw and hid the remains for months.
Minutes before the explosive filing became 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 that time, his defense announced that he wanted to continue to speed up his preliminary investigation. Berk fought to keep the explosive document under wraps – her team had only received it that morning and it could influence a future jury pool. The judge rejected the request.
New delay in murder case
On Tuesday, Burke appeared again in an orange prison suit and spoke only to agree to the new postponement, a court source confirmed to ROLLING STONE. The hearing was originally scheduled for May 26. Burke is now due in court on June 17 for another status conference.
The “Romantic Homicide” singer, now 21, was indicted last month and pleaded not guilty to counts of first-degree murder, continued sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains. The public prosecutor added special aggravating factors to the indictment: murder of a witness, murder for financial gain and ambush.
In their nine-page statement of evidence, prosecutors allege that surveillance videos showed Burke driving his Tesla on July 29, 2025, parking the vehicle near his rental home and then leaving for a concert tour. The car was later towed and impounded; On September 8, 2025, investigators made the grisly discovery of Rivas’ remains.
Incriminating evidence and allegations
“For several weeks or possibly months, the defendant left the victim’s body to rot in his Tesla. He lied to friends, business associates and others who noticed the strong odor of decomposition in and around his home and vehicle,” says the document, obtained by ROLLING STONE.
According to the filing, Burke met Rivas when she was just 11 years old and began a sexual relationship with her when she turned 13. When Rivas’ family reported her as a possible runaway, authorities found Burke’s number in her phone records and informed him of her age. Burke then “continued to stalk” Rivas, prosecutors said – paying a classmate $1,000 to secretly give her a phone so they could stay in touch.
Recovered text messages between Burke and Rivas are said to contain references to sex, pregnancy and abortion. Prosecutors say the couple argued the night before the alleged murder – before Burke allegedly paid an Uber driver to take Rivas from her family home in Lake Elsinore, more than an hour’s drive from Los Angeles, to his rental home in the Hollywood Hills. According to investigators, Burke killed Rivas shortly after her arrival because she allegedly threatened to make details of the alleged sexual abuse public.
Life imprisonment or death penalty possible
“Knowing that he had to silence the victim before it ruined her music career, as she had threatened, the defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times shortly after she arrived at his home and waited while she bled to death,” the filing states.
Prosecutors further allege that Burke then ordered a shovel, chainsaws, a body bag and a blue inflatable kiddie pool online under a false name and used those items to dismember Rivas in his garage. Traces of blood in the garage of his rental home matched Riva’s; He is also said to have lied to people who noticed the smell of their decaying remains.
If Burke is convicted on all counts, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
