What to know about singer D4vd and the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Singer and songwriter D4vd has been charged with murder, sexual abuse and dismemberment in the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

His lawyers said he is not guilty and did not cause the death of the girl whose body, authorities said, was found in his towed Tesla SUV in Hollywood in September.

The music of D4vd, pronounced “David,” became an online phenomenon when he was a teenager before he found more traditional success.

In a Los Angeles public hearing set to start Friday that will look much like a trial, prosecutors will present evidence against the 21-year-old whose legal name is David Anthony Burke. It's expected to last about five days before a judge will decide whether he should go to trial on charges of first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14, and mutilating a dead body.

Here are a few things to know about the case:

What is the evidence against D4vd?

Prosecutors will present evidence that the decomposing body of Rivas Hernandez was found cut into pieces in two bags in the trunk of a Tesla SUV registered in Burke's name at the Houston address of his parents' house. The vehicle was found seemingly abandoned in the Hollywood Hills near a home where he'd been living. They will likely introduce a medical examiner's report that said she died from two penetrating wounds.

Lead prosecutor Beth Silverman said the evidence includes child sexual abuse imagery taken from Burke's phone and iCloud accounts. But the vast majority of evidence remains secret. It was collected by police who served more than 50 search warrants and via three separate investigative grand juries.

Burke's attorneys have demanded that the evidence be revealed as quickly as possible by making the unusual move of exercising his right to have a preliminary hearing within 10 court days of his arraignment.

“We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez,” lead defense attorney Blair Berk said in court last week.

What is a preliminary hearing?

At a preliminary hearing, used in California and many other jurisdictions, witnesses are called and cross-examined and evidence is introduced in the same way they are at trial. But a judge, not a jury, makes the decision whether the evidence is sufficient for the case to move to trial. The standard used is probable cause, as opposed to the standard to convict: guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prosecutors generally provide only as much evidence as they think they need to clear that bar, which they usually do. The hearings can last several days but are usually far shorter than trials.

Who is D4vd?

D4vd, an online moniker that became Burke's stage name, was raised and homeschooled in Houston. He began making music for YouTube videos he made of the video game Fortnite.

For the most part written and recorded alone on his phone, his songs were a blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. The music made him a phenomenon on TikTok, Instagram, Soundcloud and Spotify, where his top songs, including his 2022 breakthrough “Romantic Homicide,” have more than a billion plays. In 2023, he released two EPs and opened for SZA on tour.

“It grew past Fortnite, it grew past YouTube, past everything like that, and it became such a music focused thing and the real artist in me came out,” he told The Associated Press at last year's Coachella festival.

His first full-length album, “Withered,” was released last year just two days after the date authorities estimate Rivas Hernandez was killed.

Who is Celeste Rivas Hernandez?

Rivas Hernandez was a 13-year-old seventh grader when her family reported her missing in 2024 from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) outside Los Angeles. Her body was discovered a day after she would have turned 15.

Prosecutors allege she was sexually abused in a relationship with Burke that lasted at least a year before she turned 14, the age at which they say she was killed. She was last known to be alive on April 23, 2025, when she went to his Hollywood Hills house, they said.

Her parents described her in a statement as “a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance.”

Key players in court

Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo is best known for presiding over the two trials of actor Danny Masterson. The first ended in a mistrial and the second resulted in two rape convictions in 2023. Olmedo sentenced him to 30 years to life in prison.

Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman, the lead prosecutor, is known for getting a Los Angeles serial killer who became known as the “Grim Sleeper” convicted and sentenced to death in 2016 for the murders of nine women and a teenage girl that went unsolved for years.

Blair Berk, who is representing Burke, has for many years been among the go-to lawyers for A-list clients. They've included Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Ozzy Osbourne, and Harvey Weinstein.