Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — Singer D4vd pleaded not guilty Aug. 31 to murder and other charges stemming from the death of a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered and decomposing remains were found in the trunk of his Tesla at a Hollywood tow yard.
The 21-year-old singer — whose real name is David Anthony Burke — appeared in a downtown courtroom and his new public defender asked that the arraignment be postponed, but a judge rejected the request. The singer’s attorney, Walid Kandeel, then entered a not guilty plea on Burke’s behalf.
Burke is due back in court Oct. 19 for a status conference.
Burke was previously represented by a trio of attorneys — Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter. They withdrew as the singer’s attorneys prior to the hearing.
“This morning the court granted our request to withdraw as counsel and appoint the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, after it was determined D4vd qualified for appointed counsel,” the lawyers said in a joint statement. “We continue to support D4vd in his defense against these serious charges. We are grateful that the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office has taken over the representation and that D4vd has a highly capable and committed team of attorneys and investigators behind him.”
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo found sufficient evidence following more than four days of sometimes-graphic testimony during a preliminary hearing in July to allow the case against Burke to proceed to trial.
Burke was charged April 20 with capital murder in the 2025 death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, along with the special circumstance allegations of lying in wait, murder for financial gain and killing a witness in a criminal investigation.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has not yet announced whether it will seek the death penalty against Burke, who was arrested April 16 by Los Angeles Police Department officers and remains jailed without bail.
Burke is also charged with one count each of continuous sexual abuse of a child under age 14 and mutilation of human remains.
Prosecutors contend the singer killed the underage girl to prevent her from damaging his burgeoning music career by going public about their lengthy sexual relationship.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman — who was in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom throughout portions of the hearing in July — has said the lying-in-wait allegation stems from D4vd’s invitation to the teen to come to his Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, while the financial gain allegation stems from the singer’s effort to maintain his lucrative music career, which was being threatened by his relationship with Hernandez.
Hernandez was considered the key witness in the investigation into Burke’s alleged sexual activity with the underage girl, leading to the allegation of murdering a witness, the district attorney said.
The teen’s body was found last Sept. 8 — just days after what would have been her 15th birthday, according to a court filing from the prosecution, which noted that the vehicle had been towed three days earlier while parked about 400 feet from his Hollywood Hills home.
Burke has maintained his innocence.
One of Burke’s attorneys, Marilyn Bednarski, insisted in July that there was insufficient evidence on all of the charges.
The defense lawyer argued that Burke had “repeatedly expressed his love and care” for the girl even after they broke up and that there was no evidence Burke had ever stated he intended to harm her. She told the judge Burke eventually relented on the girl coming to his home after she repeatedly insisted on seeing him.
Burke’s attorney said the evidence “failed to establish” he was watching and waiting for her or that there was any advance planning, and contended prosecutors had no evidence the girl intended to inform police about their relationship.
Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman countered there was “nothing about this case that sounds like an accident” and the teen was “obviously dead” within 20 minutes of being dropped off by an Uber driver at Burke’s rented Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025.
“We have an underage minor who was threatening to expose this relationship,” Silverman told the judge, arguing later that the defense has tried to “dirty up” the girl.
During the preliminary hearing in July, the prosecution presented graphic photos of the girl’s remains, along with sexually explicit photos of the two from Burke’s cell phone and text messages that were stored on an iCloud account in which an abortion was discussed, suggesting Hernandez had been impregnated by the singer when she was 13.
LAPD Robbery-Homicide Detective Corey Farell — one of the lead investigators on the case — testified in July that data from Burke’s iCloud account showed communications with the girl that began in 2022 when she was 11 and ended April 23, 2025. The text messages exchanged between the two that involved sex-related content were written between November 2023 and March 2025, according to Farell.
The detective testified that Burke wrote in a December 2023 text message to the girl that he has different aliases and goes by the name Travion Davis, which is the alias the prosecution contends he used to buy items in the dismemberment of the girl’s body.
