A Los Angeles County judge has ruled that D4vd, the 21-year-old singer whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, must stand trial on charges of first-degree murder, child sexual abuse, and mutilating a body in the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo found on July 27 that prosecutors had met the burden of probable cause — the standard required to send a case to trial rather than dismiss it — following a five-day preliminary hearing. Burke has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Prosecutors allege that Burke murdered Rivas at his Hollywood Hills home in April 2025. According to prosecutors, the motive was that Rivas had threatened to reveal an illegal sexual relationship with Burke, which would have derailed his music career. Rivas was 14 years old at the time of her death.

The case broke open months after the alleged killing. Burke's Tesla was found abandoned and later brought to a Hollywood tow lot, where officers discovered Rivas's dismembered and decomposed body parts in the vehicle's front trunk in September 2025, according to Billboard. Prosecutors accuse Burke of dismembering Rivas's body with a chainsaw.

During the preliminary hearing, Judge Olmedo reviewed photographs of Rivas's partially decomposed remains, heard testimony from a medical examiner, and examined text messages exchanged between Rivas and Burke. Those text messages revealed that Rivas had undergone an abortion at age 13.

An executive from Interscope Records, Burke's label, testified during the hearing that the artist had earned millions of dollars from his music. Burke rose to prominence through streaming platforms, building a large audience with tracks that gained traction online before his major-label signing.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has stated that his office is weighing whether to seek the death penalty against Burke. A trial date has not yet been set. Burke is next expected to appear in court at the end of August.

The charges carry severe potential consequences, and the death-penalty review adds a further layer of gravity to a case that has already drawn sustained attention given Burke's profile as a signed recording artist. The allegations remain unproven until adjudicated at trial.