A judge in Los Angeles has cleared pop singer D4vd, born David Anthony Burke, to stand trial on charges of murdering and mutilating 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose dismembered remains were found in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke in a city impound lot in September 2024.

Judge Olmedo ruled after a five-day preliminary hearing that prosecutors had met the evidentiary standard to send the case to trial, according to Reuters. No trial start date has been announced. Burke has pleaded not guilty and hired attorneys Blair Berk and Marilyn Bednarski to lead his defence, Rolling Stone reported.

Prosecutors say Burke and Rivas Hernandez began chatting online in 2022, when she was 11 and he was 16. The relationship allegedly became sexual in November 2023, when she was 13. A recovered phone and Burke's iCloud allegedly contained child sex abuse material and text messages between the two discussing marriage, sex, and an abortion Rivas Hernandez had at around age 13, Rolling Stone reported. Court proceedings also revealed that Burke's mother wondered in messages whether the teenager's baby was his, according to Rolling Stone Australia.

Rivas Hernandez's family reported her missing for the first time in February 2024. Prosecutors allege Burke helped her run away from home on Valentine's Day, a plan they say he dubbed "Operation Awesome," Rolling Stone reported.

Investigators believe Burke stabbed Rivas Hernandez to death inside a house on 23 April 2025, after she threatened to expose their relationship and damage his rising music career, Rolling Stone reported. Prosecutors say he then dismembered her body with a chainsaw in his garage days or weeks later, and stashed the remains in the Tesla, where they sat for months. A detective testified during the preliminary hearing that Burke had ordered chainsaws and body bags, the Associated Press reported. A DNA expert also testified tying Rivas Hernandez to the case, and prosecutors said Burke's DNA was linked to a trash bag containing blood, according to AP and Rolling Stone.

A detective testified that Rivas Hernandez was "unrecognisable" when her remains were discovered, Rolling Stone reported. Prosecutors characterised Burke as a "clever adult" who sexually abused the girl and "gaslit" her after she threatened to come forward, Rolling Stone reported.

Rivas Hernandez's parents were present for most of the preliminary hearing, Reuters reported. Burke was arrested in April and formally charged with murdering Rivas Hernandez to cover up his alleged sexual abuse of her.

Rolling Stone published an extensive investigation into Burke on 5 August 2026, drawing on interviews with former friends, fans, collaborators, a source at his former label Darkroom/Interscope, and a young woman who said Burke developed an intense online relationship with her while she was underage. The BBC confirmed that Burke will face trial for murder.

Burke, 20, gained attention as D4vd through viral tracks on streaming platforms and had been signed to Darkroom, an imprint of Interscope Records, part of Universal Music Group.