The parents of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez were in court for a preliminary hearing where images of her dismembered corpse were shown. David Anthony Burke, known as D4vd, faces trial for her murder and sexual abuse.
Celeste's remains were found in September 2025 in a Tesla registered to the 21-year-old rapper. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and sexual abuse. The evidence is being presented for the first time as prosecutors seek to convince a judge there is enough to proceed to trial.
Family's ordeal
The family's lawyer, Patrick Steinfeld, called the experience 'extremely painful'. Celeste's mother, Mercedes Martinez, reportedly sobbed through the hearing and 'never recovered'. Steinfeld told TMZ the evidence was 'damning' and that it seems to get 'harder and harder' for the grieving family.
'This is the first time they've heard this evidence in detail, and they're horrified,' Steinfeld told the BBC. 'There was an image of Celeste's torso and her head in the trunk of the car, and the prosecutor had to ask what it was because you could not tell it was a head. It was absolutely deplorable.'
Steinfeld said the parents were told they 'won't unsee' those images, calling it a 'parent's worst nightmare'. He noted that Celeste's mother insisted on being in the room to show support for her daughter.
Evidence details
During the hearing, a homicide detective testified that Burke had ordered chainsaws, an inflatable pool, a shovel, and a body bag online days after Celeste's death. Detective Byers described opening a cadaver bag inside the Tesla to find decomposing human remains, including a head and torso, with a bag underneath containing severed limbs.
The Tesla was found abandoned in a tow yard, and employees complained of a foul smell coming from the car. Celeste was last seen alive on April 23, 2025, when she went to Burke's home in the Hollywood Hills.
In a previous hearing in April, prosecutors claimed Burke had a 'significant amount' of child pornography on his phone, with eight terabytes of data in iCloud storage.
Charges
Burke faces charges including first-degree murder with special circumstances, such as lying in wait, committing the crime for financial gain, murdering a witness to an investigation, lewd and lascivious sexual acts with a person under 14, and mutilation of a human body. The charges could potentially make him eligible for the death penalty.
