US singer D4vd to go on trial for murder in death of 14-year-old

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, BBC reports from outside court after judge rules singer D4vd will stand trial for murder By Sareen Habeshian , Shaimaa Khalil  and  Sam Mulick , Reporting from courthouse in Los Angeles Published 27 July 2026 Updated 4 hours ago A judge has ruled that US musician D4vd will go on trial for murder over the death of a teenage girl. The decision came after a five-day preliminary hearing, in which Los Angeles prosecutors questioned a dozen witnesses and displayed photographic evidence as 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez's family watched on. The star, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is accused of killing the girl, whose remains were found last September in a Tesla registered to his address. Burke, 21, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering and sexually abusing her. Texts reveal 14-year-old allegedly murdered by singer D4vd had pregnancy and abortion Published 3 days ago Burke is scheduled to be charged on 31 August. The trial is to start within 90 days of that date. Prosecutors have alleged Burke stabbed the teen before dismembering her body after years of alleged sexual abuse. They allege he killed her because the teen had threatened to reveal his relationship with a minor and destroy his multi-million dollar music career. Evidence read in court on Monday showed threats Hernandez made to Burke on 22 April 2025, stemming from arguments about his friendship with another girl. "I swear to GOD I will kill u", one expletive-laden text said, followed by a threat to strangle him and tell her dad lies about him. "i will end ur career and ur life I will damage anything," the text went on. The following day, Hernandez went to Burke's Hollywood home in an Uber he had sent to pick her up. Prosecutors alleged that Burke stabbed her once she arrived. During questioning at the hearing on Monday, Detective Corey Farrell of the Los Angeles Police Department said text messages indicated that the defendant and the girl had attended church with her family. In response to the defence, the detective said he was aware the teen had misrepresented her age to the defendant, telling him she was 16 and 18 at different times. Burke's defence lawyers argued there was not sufficient evidence that he had committed the crime. They said her parents were aware of what was going on between them and had even given written consent for her to travel to London with Burke for a week. The defence highlighted texts on the 22nd and the 23rd of April that suggested Celeste had insisted on going to Burke's Hollywood Hills home and that he had argued against her coming before agreeing to send her an Uber on the night of the 23rd. He "repeatedly expressed love and care for Ms Hernandez after they broke up", defence attorney Marilyn Bednarski said in court. The medical examiner's inability to prove how the two penetrating wounds found in the girl occurred and the lac