LOS ANGELES (Court TV) — The once-rising music star David “d4vd” Burke returned to court on Tuesday, appearing unshaven and with longer hair, wearing an orange inmate uniform.
David ‘d4vd’ Burke appeared at a pretrial hearing on May 12, 2026. (Sketch by Mona Edwards)
Burke, 21, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, continued lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14 years old and mutilating a human body after the body of a missing 14-year-old was found dismembered in the trunk of a Tesla registered in his name.
Burke has remained behind bars since his arrest on April 17, 2026, months after Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s body was found on what would have been her 15th birthday.
A preliminary hearing in the case had initially been scheduled for May; there were repeated delays after Burke’s defense complained they had not received DNA evidence and accused prosecutors of stalling.
On Tuesday, the parties returned to court to confirm that things are on schedule for the preliminary hearing to be July 21; Burke’s defense said they had now received a large volume of digital data and prosecutors told the judge that they had shared all evidence relevant for the preliminary hearing.
Burke spoke only to say, “Good morning, you honor,” according to Court TV’s reporter in the courtroom on Tuesday. He smiled as he greeted the judge and sat slouched in his chair with his eyes focused on the bench.
Among the evidence expected to be presented at the preliminary hearing are details of purchases that Burke allegedly made after Rivas-Hernandez’s death, which included chainsaws, a body bag and an inflatable pool.
Prosecutors say that after killing the victim, Burke dismembered Rivas-Hernandez in the pool to prevent her blood from spilling onto his garage floor; investigators said that “Small blue plastic fragments were found embedded in the victim’s remains.”
At the time of her death, Rivas-Hernandez had been missing for years; she was reported missing in February 2024 after running away from home. She met the singer in January 2022 when she was 11. Prosecutors previously said in court documents that the two began a sexual relationship the next year, when Burke was 18, and the victim was 13.
Rivas-Hernandez was likely killed in late April 2025, following an argument in which she allegedly threatened to reveal “damaging information about her relationship with [the] defendant to end his career and destroy his life,” prosecutors said.
