Updated

Updated · CNN · Apr 18

d4vd Faces Hearing Over 14-Year-Old's Killing as Prosecutors Cite Career-Threat Motive

Updated

Updated · CNN · Apr 18

d4vd Faces Hearing Over 14-Year-Old's Killing as Prosecutors Cite Career-Threat Motive

Q: What evidence supports the defense's claim that the musician did not cause the teenager's death?

The defense has not publicly laid out a full alternative account, but the main point it appears to rely on is that the autopsy itself does not directly tie Burke to causing Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s death. Burke’s lawyers, led by Blair Berk, have said the “actual evidence” will show he “did not murder” Celeste and “was not the cause of her death.” That position is paired with the fact that the medical examiner’s report identified the cause of death as “multiple penetrating injuries” and ruled it a homicide, but, as described in reporting, did not itself contain evidence specifically linking Burke to the killing. There is also a possible defense theory, raised by former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani rather than by Burke’s lawyers in court, that Celeste may have died accidentally from an overdose and that Burke then panicked and concealed the body. That suggestion draws on reporting that drugs were found in her system. Still, prosecutors are alleging a stabbing death, and forensic evidence presented at the hearing includes Celeste’s DNA in Burke’s garage and plastic fragments in her remains allegedly matching an inflatable pool prosecutors say he bought and used during dismemberment. So, the support for the defense claim is limited in the public record: chiefly the absence of a direct attribution in the autopsy report itself, along with the possibility of an alternative cause of death based on drugs found in her system.

3 articles · Updated · CNN · Apr 18

A Los Angeles judge began hearing evidence Tuesday to decide whether d4vd, 21, should stand trial on charges including first-degree murder, child sexual abuse and mutilating Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s remains.
Prosecutors say the 14-year-old was killed on April 23, 2025, after threatening in texts a day earlier to reveal details of their relationship that would “end his career and destroy his life.”
Their timeline says d4vd first met Celeste in 2022 when she was 11, began a sexual relationship with her in November 2023, and remained linked to her through photos and videos into early 2025.
Celeste was reported missing three times in early 2024, but images later placed her backstage at d4vd’s June 2024 show and in photos from late 2024 and January 2025.
Her dismembered body was found on Sept. 8, 2025, in the front trunk of d4vd’s abandoned Tesla; he was arrested April 16 and has pleaded not guilty.

Sources

CNN94d ago

Murder Suspect d4vd's Preliminary Hearing Details 14-Year-Old's Death

Spectrum News23h ago

Judge to hear evidence against D4vd in killing of teen

KTRE23h ago

Judge to hear evidence against singer D4vd in killing, dismemberment of teen and decide on trial

11 Sources

Will d4vd's record label face consequences for ignoring warnings about the underage relationship?

What evidence supports the defense's claim that the musician did not cause the teenager's death?

Why did child protection systems fail to intervene despite three missing person reports?

David Anthony Burke (D4vd) Faces Capital Murder and Child Sexual Abuse Charges: Legal, Industry, and Societal Impacts of the Celeste Rivas Hernandez Case

Overview

As of July 21, 2026, David Anthony Burke, known as D4vd, maintains a not guilty plea to serious charges including capital murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and mutilation of human remains. The prosecution alleges he ordered tools like chainsaws and an inflatable pool online, with investigators finding fragments of the pool in the victim’s wounds. The first-degree murder charge includes special circumstances such as lying in wait or financial gain, which could result in life without parole or the death penalty if convicted. The case is ongoing, with an evidentiary hearing scheduled for today.

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