A judge has ruled that singer D4vd should be charged with the murder of a 14-year-old girl | Los Angeles

A Los Angeles A judge on Monday ruled that singer D4vd should be charged with the murder, rape and mutilation of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

Judge Charlaine Olmedo ruled after a five-day preliminary hearing that prosecutors had provided enough evidence to charge the 21-year-old singer, who was born David Burke. Prosecutors say Burke killed Celeste after threatening to reveal their relationship and ruin her music career.

Burke, who has pleaded not guilty, will continue to be held without bail. A trial is scheduled for August 31 and the trial is expected to begin in 60 days.

“People have to face the burden of all cases,” Olmedo said, stressing that the risk factor is much lower in a preliminary case than in a criminal case.

Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said: “Based on the overwhelming evidence that has been presented, all of these charges have been proven beyond the pale.”

Burke took no part in the election. The defense declined to comment outside court.

It’s dark distractions The five-day hearing brought tears, sobs and panic to the court. The evidence includes autopsy photos, detailed descriptions and evidence of sexual abuse and a graphic image of the last text he sent minutes before his death and his phone went silent.

When he approached his Hollywood home at 10am on April 23, 2025, in an Uber he sent to pick him up, Celeste. he sent her a final message: “Girly pop I’m about to open the door if you’re home.”

Prosecutors say Burke stabbed her to death when she walked in the door.

Last night, the two argued over texts about his relationship with a woman. He sent her an angry and insulting message that she told her father many lies about him and “I will end ur career and ur life.”

Detective Corey Farrell of Los Angeles the police, being questioned by the defendants, read the documents taken from the documents of Burke’s iPhone and iCloud account.

Prosecutors said Burke met Celeste when she was 11, and began abusing her when she was 13 and when she was 18. A year before her death, the two exchanged messages about their relationship. to be pregnant – assured her that the child was hers – and that she had an abortion.

During the preliminary hearing, prosecutors presented photos of the couple kissing and sleeping in bed. The photos show that he drew “David” in red ink on a finger – one of two that was cut off when his body was found.

Defense attorneys argued that there was no probable cause for Burke to kill Celeste, and that the murder charge should be dismissed.

“There is no evidence that Mr. Burke had any intent to kill Miss Hernandez,” Burke’s attorney, Marilyn Bednarski, said Monday.

Defense attorneys asserted that there were no eyewitnesses and no surveillance cameras that captured Celeste entering the home or Burke being in the home when prosecutors say she was killed.

The defense showed several other texts from Celeste threatening her about their relationship, and that she would go to Burke’s mother, talk to her friends and “expose” more about them.

When questioned by defense attorney Blair Berk, Farrell said he saw nothing that threatened to go to the police or follow her.

The defense also testified that he had asked her seven times to come see her in the days before her death, and that she had reluctantly agreed when he wanted her to, and that he had threatened to kill Burke and cut her up.

Farrell also said in Berk’s interview that Burke and Celeste’s parents knew about their relationship, that he went to church with his family and that his parents agreed to take him to London for a week.

The officer also admitted that during her initial conversation with Burke, Celeste was 17 years old and when she was 11 years old, she told him she was 16 years old, and at times she said she was 18 years old.

After her phone went silent, Burke sent her several more messages that night asking where she was, and expressing concern. Prosecutors say the messages were sent as a cover for his murder.

Patrick Steinfeld, a lawyer for Celeste’s family, said after hearing that he was “horrified that the prosecutors brought evidence against a 14-year-old girl”.

Her parents sat in the front row through most of the hearing, but sat down in some of the more visible areas and left in the middle of the sex testimony when her mother began to cry.

Prosecutors say Burke dismembered the body in his garage. A police expert previously testified that samples taken from blood stains matched his DNA.

His body was found in a Tesla registered to him about five months later.

D4vd (pronounced “David”) became an internet sensation as a teenager mixing indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He had a huge following on TikTok, Soundcloud and Spotify, while his top songs, including his 2022 smash hit Romantic Homicide, have over a billion plays.

The Associated Press contributed to the report