Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s Mom Breaks Down Crying as Photo Is Shown in D4vd Murder Case Hearing

A gut-wrenching moment unfolded in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday when the mother of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez broke down in tears as a passport photo of her daughter was shown during a preliminary hearing for the singer D4vd.

Mercedes Martinez immediately lowered her head and sobbed when the image was displayed as a California Highway Patrol officer testified that the teen’s passport was found in grass along Highway 154 in January.

D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, is charged with murder and unlawful mutilation of human remains in the death of the Lake Elsinore teen. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.

According to court documents, prosecutors allege that Burke, now 21, killed Celeste on April 23, 2025—just days before his debut album was set to drop. The argument reportedly erupted over his relationships with other women.

Prosecutors claim the teen threatened to reveal details about their relationship, which they say began in November 2023 when she was 13 and he was 18. Authorities allege Burke then stabbed her multiple times and later dismembered her body using items purchased online, including chainsaws and cadaver bags.

The gruesome evidence presented this week included photos of body parts found in the front trunk of Burke’s Tesla, which was impounded after being abandoned. Her head and torso were discovered in a cadaver bag, with her limbs inside a garbage bag, according to testimony.

During the hearing, Los Angeles police Detective Joshua Byers testified that investigators found a “burn box” behind a piano in Burke’s Hollywood Hills home during a search warrant in September 2025.