How D4vd Reacted in Court When Prosecutors Showed Disturbing Photos of Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s Remains

In a tense Los Angeles courtroom, the young singer known as D4vd sat stone-faced as gruesome images of a teenage runaway’s remains flashed across the screen. The 21-year-old musician, whose real name is David Burke, is facing murder charges in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

During a preliminary hearing on July 21, an LAPD detective testified about the disturbing evidence found inside the trunk of Burke’s Tesla. The car had been impounded from a Hollywood Hills street days before the remains were discovered at a tow yard on Sept. 8, 2025.

Detective Joshua Byers told the judge he was called to the scene that day and was told a body would be inside the vehicle. Inside the front trunk, investigators found a black vinyl body bag partially unzipped, along with a garbage bag held together with blue straps.

Prosecutors displayed multiple graphic photos in court, showing limbs inside a bag, the body bag itself, and the victim’s bloodied head and torso. According to courtroom observers, Burke showed no visible emotion as he stared intently at each image. He reportedly focused longer on a picture of her right hand, which had the word “Shhh…”

tattooed on her index finger.

Authorities allege that Burke fatally stabbed the runaway from Lake Elsinore on April 23, 2025—just one day after a heated argument over his relationships with other women. The killing reportedly took place days before the release of his debut album.

Prosecutors claim Burke then dismembered and disposed of her body using items he ordered online from Amazon and Home Depot, including a shovel, two chainsaws, a body bag, and heavy-duty laundry bags. Court documents also allege he purchased a blue inflatable pool to prevent blood from spilling onto his garage floor, using the chainsaw to cut off her limbs.

The case has taken a darker turn with claims that Burke began a sexual relationship with Rivas in November 2023, when she was 13 and he was 18. They allegedly first met in January 2022, when she was just 11 years old.

Burke now faces life in prison without parole, or possibly the death penalty—a decision that prosecutors say they have not yet finalized. As the hearing continues, one question hangs in the air: what more will come out about the timeline leading up to that devastating day in April?