LOS ANGELES (Court TV) — Attorneys representing a singer-songwriter accused of murdering a teenager found dismembered in the artist’s car have tried to undermine the prosecution’s case, questioning why some evidence wasn’t tested.
David ‘d4vd’ Burke appears at his preliminary hearing on July 23, 2026. (Sketch by Mona Edwards)
David Burke, 21, known professionally as the singer “d4vd,” has appeared in the same black glasses and orange jail jumpsuit each day of his preliminary hearing this week. Prosecutors are presenting evidence that Burke killed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, dismembered her and disposed of her body in his car. Burke has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Testimony from criminalists at the dayslong hearing has offered new information about the evidence investigators say was found at Burke’s home. Los Angeles Police Department criminalist Lauren Wallace testified that while two chain saws were found in the singer’s home, tests for blood came back negative. Criminalists did no further testing on the tools.
Black rubber mats on the floor of Burke’s garage had linear cuts and damage from red staining, Wallace said. A test showed the possible presence of blood on the brick flooring beneath the mats, suggesting the blood could have leaked out and soaked through them, prosecutors said.
Folded tarps in the garage were also stained and tested positive for the possible presence of blood.
Investigators who saw Celeste’s body dismembered in the front trunk of Burke’s Tesla previously testified that pieces of blue plastic were embedded in her injuries. An inflatable blue pool was found crumpled in a ball at Burke’s home, Wallace said. It was bundled with a dryer sheet and had a “fresh laundry smell” and no stains. Some plastic pieces were missing; when compared with the fragments found with Celeste’s body, they matched.
Criminalist Lisa LaHendro, tasked with examining the blue pool, said she located four areas of damage that showed linear cuts; at least one of the cuts extended through the bottom of the pool. Hair was also found in the pool and was collected as evidence.
Burke’s defense pressed the criminalists to admit that they did not test the chain saws for any touch DNA evidence and that no toolmark comparison or analysis was performed on the victim’s clothing.
Also found in the garage, Wallace said, were jugs and trays of fake blood. In his music videos, Burke and others are often seen wearing shirts stained with fake blood.
LAPD Detective William Roecker testified on Thursday morning that he had reviewed data from Burke’s Tesla and his cellphone. The records showed that Burke was home on the night of April 23, 2025, until around 11:30 p.m., when he began driving to a “pretty desolate area” of State Route 154 in Santa Barbara County. Burke’s phone matched the movements of his vehicle, and the devices both returned to his home by 7:06 a.m. on April 24. Prosecutors have said they believe Celeste was murdered on April 23.
Roecker said that data from both Burke’s phone and Tesla showed the defendant returning to the same area two more times, on May 5 and May 31. The paths he traveled, Roecker said, also line up with where Celeste’s U.S. passport card was found on the side of the road.
As proceedings began on Thursday, a reporter was singled out in court for violating Judge Charlaine Olmedo’s restrictions. No audio or visual recording is permitted during the hearing; while reporters are allowed to have electronics to take notes, nothing can be broadcast or disseminated until court is in recess. The reporter was dismissed from the courtroom. She will be allowed to return on Friday, but cannot bring a laptop.
