Updated
Updated · KABC-TV · Jul 24
Autopsy Doctor Says 14-Year-Old Bled for Minutes After 2 Stab Wounds in D4vd Hearing
Updated
Updated · KABC-TV · Jul 24

Autopsy Doctor Says 14-Year-Old Bled for Minutes After 2 Stab Wounds in D4vd Hearing

3 articles · Updated · KABC-TV · Jul 24

Summary

  • Dr. Grant Ho testified Friday that 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez died from two sharp-force wounds—one piercing her liver, another damaging ribs—and would have taken minutes to bleed to death.
  • Ho said severe decomposition limited what the autopsy could determine, including the exact time of death; he testified she had been dead at least weeks and potentially four to five months.
  • Her dismembered body was found in a Tesla trunk in September 2025, nearly five months after prosecutors say she was killed in April.
  • Prosecutors argue David Burke, the singer known as D4vd, killed her after she threatened to expose a sexual relationship they say began when she was 13; he has pleaded not guilty to murder, child sexual abuse and mutilation.

Insights

Will the severe decomposition of the victim's body provide the loophole a celebrity needs to escape justice for a brutal crime?
How did a rising pop star allegedly hide a gruesome murder using an alias, chain saws, and a Tesla for months?