D4vd appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday looking weary in an orange prison jumpsuit as a preliminary hearing in his murder trial was delayed due to a mountain of new evidence, prosecutors said.
The decision to delay the hearing until the end of June came after horrifying new details emerged last month in the case of his alleged mutilation of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas.
Prosecutors revealed Tuesday that they have tons of evidence to review, including lab reports, police reports, photographs, numerous videos, arrest reports and forensic evidence.
D4vd, real name David Burke, appeared exhausted in court and disappointed at the hearing being delayed as he stared down Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo
When asked if he agreed to the new June 29 date, he replied: “Yes, your honor.”
Last month, court documents the singer’s legal team argued to have sealed revealed disturbing accusations from prosecutors that he groomed and eventually mutilated Rivas with a chainsaw.
D4vd, real name David Burke, ordered an Uber to deliver Rivas from her family home in Lake Elsinore to his Hollywood Hills home on the night of April 23, 2025, according to the documents obtained by The California Post.
He then stabbed her and stood by while she bled to death, prosecutors said.
Burke allegedly ordered a shovel from Home Depot the following day and had it delivered to his home by Postmates. About a week later, he ordered two chainsaws from Amazon that were delivered to his home, the documents show, and on May 5 he allegedly ordered a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags and a blue inflatable pool.
From there, investigators say, Burke “took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim’s body.”
Burke is accused of placing Rivas’ body into the blue inflatable pool to prevent her blood from making a mess on his garage floor and used the chainsaw and possibly other tools to cut off her limbs, according to the documents.
Burke also allegedly amputated Rivas’ left ring and pinky fingers because her ring finger bore a tattoo of his name — and those fingers were never recovered, according to the documents.
Rivas’ family attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, described informing her family of the news the “most difficult thing” he’s ever had to do in 37 years as a lawyer.
“Last night I had the heartbreaking responsibility of informing the Rivas Hernandez family of the horrifying allegations submitted in court yesterday that David Anthony Burke allegedly stabbed Celeste, ‘stood by while she bled’ to death, used a chainsaw to cut off her limbs, and bought a ‘burn cage’ with the plan to ‘incinerate the evidence,’ Steinfeld said in a statement.
Rivas’ body was discovered in Burke’s Tesla in a Hollywood Hills impound lot last September.
On April 16, he was arrested after LAPD officers swooped in on a Hollywood Hills home the singer was staying in.
Exclusive video footage obtained by the Post showed the singer with his hands behind his back as he’s led down a residential street in the Hollywood Hills.
A neighbor told the Post she witnessed “so many cops” on the street just before the singer was taken into custody. One officer was on a loudspeaker outside the home shouting “Surrender!,” according to the neighbor.
LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has said that the death penalty is still on the table for the singer.
