Rising pop singer D4vd and 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez were secretly involved for months before the teenager's mutilated, decomposing body was found last September stuffed inside an impounded car registered to him.
D4vd, born David Anthony Burke, is set to stand trial for murder, child sexual abuse and mutilation of human remains in connection with Celeste's death. Los Angeles county prosecutors accuse Burke of stabbing the teenager and then severing her limbs as he sought to prevent her from revealing their sexual relationship, which began when he was 18 and she was 13 in November 2023. Burke has pleaded not guilty.
The grim discovery of Celeste's remains drove social media sleuths, particularly on Discord where Burke first gained an online following as a gamer before moving into music, to comb through his past videos and posts for clues about his connection to the girl.
Texts expose a relationship that began when Celeste was 11
The clearest picture yet of a rocky, on-and-off relationship emerged during a recent preliminary evidentiary hearing, where prosecutors presented text messages the pair exchanged as far back as 2022, when Celeste was 11. At times, Burke shared dreams of an idyllic future, writing about her moving in with him, getting married in Italy and having children together.
Those plans were shadowed by the fact that Celeste was a minor and had been reported missing by her family. "i can't wait to move in tg without the cops bitching baby," Burke allegedly wrote to her in June 2024, Courthouse News reported. Months earlier, in February, police officers visited him at a residence in West Hollywood after finding his number in the teenager's phone log while searching for her. When police told Burke her age, he said she had claimed to be 18.
Texts also indicated Burke wanted the sexual nature of their relationship kept secret. When Celeste asked in July 2024 whether anyone knew they had had intercourse, he replied, "Nope and I would like to keep it that way before we get married."
A pregnancy, an abortion and a final argument
The relationship hit rough patches. Celeste expressed a desire for something more serious, reportedly telling him, "All we do is have sex and just hang out man i want more than that for myself." In January 2024, after she became pregnant with Burke's child, she had an abortion that she later regretted. "I don't like talking about it because it gets me really upset, but I'd do anything to have it back," she reportedly wrote to him in August 2024.
"Let's end that there," he replied. "I don't like talking to u when you're upset," he added, while acknowledging later that the abortion "saddened" him but he did not "dwell on it".
Prosecutors say that the night before Burke killed Celeste in April 2025, the two had a heated text argument about his relationship with another woman, during which the teenager allegedly threatened to end his career. Prosecutors also presented evidence of a comfortable record-label deal that they suggested gave Burke a motive to silence her.
Forensic evidence and defence challenges
Los Angeles county district attorney Nathan J Hochman said in a statement: "What was presented by our office over the course of the last week is a small but illustrative fraction of the evidence investigators have accumulated that proves defendant Burke is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the brutal murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. This has been a parent's worst nightmare, hearing the ghoulish details of how their child was killed, dismembered and left as trash."
During the preliminary hearing, defence lawyers cast doubt on a medical examiner's ruling that Celeste's death was a homicide. Attorney Marilyn Bednarski asked Dr Grant Ho, who performed the autopsy, whether his report could rule out that Celeste might have been holding an instrument that caused her stab wounds. Ho said he could not, but that the autopsy did not indicate self-harm.
Prosecutors presented forensic testing that found blood probably originating from Celeste in Burke's former residence. A second defence attorney, Blair Berk, questioned a Los Angeles police criminalist about why other items in the home were not DNA-tested, noting that multiple people lived there.
It remains unclear what strategy Burke's attorneys will use at trial; they did not respond to a request for comment on the case proceeding forward.
Next steps in court
Burke remains in custody without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on 31 August. His trial date has not been announced. Hochman said on Thursday's NewsNation appearance that he would confer with Celeste's family and Burke's lawyers before deciding whether to pursue the death penalty.
