Singer D4vd to stand trial for allegedly killing and dismembering 14yo girl

Content warning: this story involves the death of a minor, allegations of sexual abuse of a child and graphic violent details.Singer D4vd will stand trial for the alleged killing and dismemberment of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who authorities say had threatened to expose their sexual relationship.Los Angeles Judge Charlaine Olmedo decided that the evidence that prosecutors presented at a five-day preliminary hearing provided probable cause for a trial on charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains.D4vd, the 21-year-old singer born David Burke whose career was steeply rising before the allegations emerged, has pleaded not guilty.Celeste Rivas Hernandez's dismembered body was found in D4dv's car. (AP: Damian Dovarganes)Held without bail"The people have met their burden on all counts," Justice Olmedo said.She ordered that Mr Burke continue to be held without bail.Justice Olmedo emphasised that the probable cause standard for a preliminary hearing like this is much lower than the threshold at trial.However, prosecutors asserted that the evidence was overwhelming."Based on the mountains of evidence presented," Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said, "all of the allegations have been proved way beyond the standard required".Mr Burke had no visible reaction to the decision and the defence team declined to comment outside court.Prosecutors wrapped up their case by giving a moment-by-moment account of Ms Rivas Hernandez's last night, showing that, after a stream of text messages with Mr Burke, her phone went permanently silent when she arrived at his home.As she neared his Hollywood home shortly after 10am on April 23, 2025, in an Uber he had sent to pick her up, she sent her final text: "girly pop i'm almost there open ur door if ur home".Prosecutors allege Mr Burke stabbed her to death when she came through the door.Fighting via text messagesD4vd has pleaded not guilty but is being held in custody. (AP: Bill Robles)The night before, the two argued via text about his relationship with a woman.Ms Rivas Hernandez sent him an angry and profane text saying she would tell her dad so many lies about him and "i will end ur career and ur life".Los Angeles Police detective Corey Farrell, under questioning from the prosecution, read the texts that were obtained from warrants on Mr Burke's iPhone and iCloud accounts.After the final witness on Monday, the defence argued that the evidence was insufficient and the murder charge should be dismissed."There's no evidence that Mr Burke harboured a deliberate intent to kill Miss Hernandez," Mr Burke's attorney Marilyn Bednarski said.She said the communications between Mr Burke and Ms Rivas Hernandez showed "no threat, no evidence of a history of violence" and that he had "the opposite of homicidal malice" toward her.She argued that a medical examiner ruling that her death was a homicide from two puncture wounds was too vague and inconclusive to be evidence of murder.The defence did not directly give an alternative theory on how she died and was not required to.Mr Burke's legal team showed several other texts from Ms Rivas Hernandez threatening him about their relationship, and saying she would go to his mother, talk to his friends and "leak" information about them.No suggestion of legal actionUnder questioning from defence lawyer Blair Berk, Detective Farrell said he saw no indication that she ever threatened to go to police or pursue any legal action against him.The defence also established that Ms Rivas Hernandez had asked seven times to come to see Mr Burke in the days before her death, and he reluctantly agreed only after she demanded it, and that she had threatened to kill him and to mutilate him.D4vd released his first full-length album, Withered, two days after authorities say Celeste was killed. (AP: Jordan Strauss/Invision)Mr Burke's lawyers argued that all of the malice had come from Ms Rivas Hernandez.Ms Silverman told the judge that "the defence tried numerous times throughout these proceedings to dirty up the victim" despite her being a child.The detective also said under questioning from Ms Berk that the parents of both Mr Burke and Ms Rivas Hernandez knew about their relationship, that he had attended church with members of her family and that her parents had given their consent for her to go to London with him for a week.After her phone went silent, Mr Burke sent Ms Rivas Hernandez several other messages that night asking where she was and expressing concern.Prosecutors allege that those messages were sent as cover after he had killed her.Body found in Tesla five months after deathProsecutors allege Mr Burke dismembered Ms Rivas Hernandez's body in his garage.A police analyst testified earlier in the hearing that samples pulled from apparent blood stains there matched her DNA .Her body was found in a Tesla registered to him nearly five months later.Lawyers for D4vd argued that the prosecution had not met the threshold for murder, but the judge disagreed. (Reuters: Arafat Barbakh)In earlier testimony, Detective Farrell recounted dozens of sexually explicit photos of Mr Burke and Ms Rivas Hernandez and years of text messages that described the same things, along with conversations that indicated she had gotten an abortion in 2024 at 13 after he got her pregnant.Detective Farrell described the photos that could not be shown in court, material so graphic that it left Celeste's mother in tears and prompted both parents to leave the courtroom on Friday.They were back in court on Monday.D4vd (pronounced "David") became an online musical phenomenon as a teen with a blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop.He had huge followings on TikTok, SoundCloud and Spotify, where his top songs, including his 2022 breakthrough Romantic Homicide, have more than a billion plays.In 2024, he played the Coachella music festival and released his first full-length album, Withered, two days after authorities say Ms Rivas Hernandez was killed.AP