D4vd Is In A Los Angeles Courtroom This Week As A Judge Hears Evidence To Decide If He Will Stand Trial For The Murder Of A 14-Year-Old Girl

David Burke, the 21-year-old Los Angeles musician who records as D4vd and whose 2022 breakthrough "Romantic Homicide" has more than a billion Spotify streams, is at the center of a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles that began Tuesday and is expected to last three to seven days.

A judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to send him to trial on charges of first-degree murder, sexual abuse of a minor and unlawful mutilation of human remains.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Prosecutors allege that Burke murdered 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez in April 2025 at the Hollywood Hills house he was renting, shortly before his debut album was released, and that she had threatened to expose their relationship.

Her remains were discovered in September 2025 inside an impounded Tesla registered to Burke at a Hollywood tow yard.

She had been reported missing multiple times from her home in Lake Elsinore by her family beginning in February 2024. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.

Burke told sheriff's deputies in a February 2024 interview, shown in court Tuesday via body camera footage, that he had only met Rivas Hernandez once and did not know she was a minor.

The preliminary hearing continues Wednesday with additional witnesses and evidence. No cameras are permitted in the courtroom.