The preliminary hearing for David Burke, known professionally as D4vd, continued this week as his defense team began outlining their strategy regarding the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. A judge is determining whether sufficient probable cause exists to proceed to trial on charges including murder, sexual abuse of a child, and body mutilation. Burke has entered a not guilty plea.
Defense attorney Blair Berk focused much of Thursday’s questioning on forensic procedures, particularly challenging the decision not to conduct DNA testing on chain saws discovered in Burke’s garage. Prosecutors contend the saws were used to dismember the victim’s body. A Los Angeles Police Department criminalist testified that initial chemical tests showed no blood on the saws, prompting authorities to forgo swabbing for DNA evidence. Berk pressed the witness on the limitations of visual inspection, noting that touch DNA would not be visible to the naked eye. The criminalist acknowledged this point while maintaining that testing for suspect DNA at the residence would be problematic given that the suspect’s DNA would likely be present throughout the home. Berk then highlighted that multiple people resided at the property.
Additional testimony revealed that evidence technicians discovered indications of cleaned-up blood throughout the garage, as well as containers of fake blood. Defense questioning suggested the artificial blood may have been used in music videos, given Burke’s career as an indie-pop artist known for dark, violent imagery in his work.
Police testimony also included cell-tower and vehicle-tracking data placing Burke at his Hollywood residence on April 23, 2025, the date prosecutors allege the killing occurred. The data showed he subsequently traveled to a remote area in Santa Barbara County, approximately 95 miles northwest, on multiple occasions in May. A victim’s passport was discovered by a highway worker in that region.
Prosecutors allege Burke initiated a sexual relationship with Rivas Hernandez when she was 13 years old, and that on the night of April 23, 2025, she was killed at his home over concerns about exposure of the relationship. The victim’s remains were discovered in the front trunk of Burke’s Tesla following the vehicle’s towing in September, authorities state.
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