D4vd sat impassively in a Los Angeles courtroom Thursday as a prosecutor revealed his iCloud account, obtained by investigators, “contains a significant amount of child pornography.”
Despite the bombshell announcement, the platinum-selling singer, born David Anthony Burke, and his lawyers signaled they’re still pushing for an immediate preliminary hearing in his first-degree-murder case. The judge then set a follow-up hearing for April 29 to go over evidence production. The first day of his preliminary hearing, a mini-trial that will review evidence in open court, was set for May 1.
“It’s been an informative hearing,” Marilyn Bednarski, a defense lawyer, told the court as her client watched while wearing an orange jail uniform, his left wrist shackled to his chair. Burke spoke only to consent to intermittent interruptions of his preliminary hearing, allowing the court to address other pending matters. His other lawyer, Blair Berk, placed a hand on his shoulder before Judge Charlaine Olmedo warned Burke not to miss the morning bus from jail for his next hearing. The clock is ticking on his right to a preliminary hearing within 10 days of being charged.
Burke was arrested last week and charged Monday with murdering Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 14-year-old California girl found dismembered and badly decomposed in the front trunk of his towed Tesla last September.
On Thursday, Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman revealed that investigators got a wiretap as part of their probe, and that there were three grand juries “convened to investigate, not to indict, but to investigate” the case. She said they were held in November, December, and February. “There is a voluminous amount of digital data in this case,” she said, adding that, despite five weeks of work, LAPD investigators had uploaded only about 30 percent of their evidence to a system accessible to the defense.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner released a long-awaited autopsy report concluding that Rivas died from “multiple penetrating injuries” to the upper abdomen. The 26-page report describes two stab wounds — one to the right abdomen that perforated the liver and another to the left chest that penetrated an intercostal space. “The cause of death is multiple penetrating injuries. The manner of death is classified as homicide,” it states, revealing that the cause of death was determined back on Dec. 9, 2025.
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Toxicology testing found a low level of ethanol that did not appear to contribute to Rivas’ death and “presumptive” positives for benzodiazepines, methamphetamine, and MDMA, which would require further confirmation.
The report was released after law enforcement obtained a prior court order blocking its disclosure, a move the medical examiner’s office opposed, saying it hindered transparency. “After several months, I am grateful this information can now be released,” the chief medical examiner, Dr. Odey Ukpo, said in a statement. “It is unfathomable [Rivas’ parents] have had to wait this long to learn what happened to their daughter.”
The findings add detail to the condition of Rivas’ remains. The report notes her limbs were “dismembered into several fragments,” her head was “partially skeletonized” with a missing eye, and soft tissue showed signs of “liquefication.” She could not be fingerprinted “due to waterlogged fingers.”
Rivas’ body was discovered seven months ago in two black bags hidden in the front trunk of the Tesla after it was towed from an upscale section of the Hollywood Hills. Authorities said little about the investigation during that time.
Burke has been charged with one count of first-degree murder with special circumstances, including lying in wait and financial gain, as well as separate counts involving sexual acts with a minor and mutilation of human remains. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. Prosecutors say Rivas was last seen entering Burke’s Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, and was not heard from again. They contend she was killed that day and that her body was mutilated on or about May 5.
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The autopsy report also outlines evidence collection, noting that investigators swabbed the handles and zippers of the bags holding her remains and recovered “small blue plastic pieces” at the cut sites on her arms and legs.
Burke’s lawyers said in a statement that their client “did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez, and he was not the cause of her death.”
