* Artist accused of stabbing a 14-year-old girl and cutting her into pieces

*Victim’s remains found inside car at towing yard

by steve gorman

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors have presented enough evidence to prosecute an indie pop singer known as D4vd on charges that he stabbed to death a 14-year-old girl who threatened to expose their secret relationship, a Los Angeles judge ruled Monday.

Judge Charlene Olmedo found the jury had probable cause to decide the fate of 21-year-old David Anthony Burke, whose breakout major-label music success as a recording artist named D4vd was cut short by his arrest last year. He spent five days strapped to his seat in a packed downtown courtroom as prosecutors presented graphic witness testimony and crime-scene photographs to convince Olmedo that their case met the minimum legal standard to prosecute Burke. The victim’s parents were present during most of the testimony. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told reporters during the first day of proceedings that his office would decide later whether to seek the death penalty.

From TikTok to Interscope

Burke began her career as a viral TikTok sensation in 2022 with songs produced for Fortnite gaming videos, and her first hit single, “Romantic Homicide”, led to a multimillion-dollar deal with Interscope Records.

His debut studio album was released in April 2025, the same week that prosecutors say his underage girlfriend, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, went missing and was stabbed to death.

Her dismembered remains were found five months later stuffed into the trunk of a Tesla sedan, which authorities say was registered to Burke. The car was taken to a impoundment site where workers noticed the stench of decomposition emanating from the vehicle and called the police.

The singer-songwriter was arrested in April this year and charged with first-degree murder, mutilation of human remains and child sexual abuse.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges during an April 20 hearing, in which his attorney Blair Burke emphatically defended his client’s innocence.

Burke then said, “We believe the actual evidence will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez, nor did he cause her death.”

Chain saws and swimming pools In a court brief filed the following week, prosecutors first detailed the gruesome manner in which they said Burke killed the victim and disposed of her body, as well as his alleged motives.

The DA’s office said Burke acted out of fear that she would ruin her burgeoning showbiz career after he threatened to make public damaging information about their sexual relationship out of jealousy, which prosecutors say began when she was 13.

Financial manager Benjamin Gregor testified during a preliminary hearing this week that Burke, his only entertainment client, stood to make $10 million to $11 million from 2023 to 2025 following his Interscope deal. The charge of murder for financial gain is one of the special circumstances included in the charges making Burke potentially liable for the death penalty. Another alleges that he did so because the victim was a witness to a crime.

According to prosecutors, on April 23, 2025, a day after Burke and the girl had a fight over threats to expose him, he called her for an Uber ride to his Hollywood Hills home, and stabbed the victim to death after she arrived. During his evidentiary hearing, prosecutors displayed photographs of three chain saws, a shovel and other items that they said Burke purchased online under an assumed name and had it delivered to his home after the murder on April 23, 2025.

Among them was a plastic blue inflatable swimming pool in which prosecutors said the victim’s body was placed on the floor of his garage to prevent blood from spreading.

Police homicide Detective Joshua Byers testified last Tuesday that the victim’s torso and head were found inside a black vinyl cadaver bag, which was placed on top of a plastic garbage bag in the front trunk of the abandoned Tesla, which contained the victim’s body parts.

Byers said pieces of blue plastic from the swimming pool were found embedded in the flesh of the severed limbs.

Two fingers on the girl’s left hand were amputated, but were not recovered, while the girl had a secret tattoo on her right index finger that read, “SHHH…”, which matched the mark Burke, who was later found tattooed on his right index finger, according to Byers.

The detective said the remains must be positively identified through dental records.

According to prosecutors’ court brief, multiple biological samples collected from Burke’s garage were confirmed to contain blood, and DNA analysis of the various samples matched the victim’s unique genetic profile.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.