LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors dug into the details of blood stains and other forensic evidence Wednesday in hopes of persuading a judge that singer D4vd should go to trial for the stabbing death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
On the second day of a preliminary hearing for D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, Los Angeles police criminalists described collecting samples of possible blood and DNA from his garage, where prosecutors allege Burke dismembered
her body, and from his Tesla, where the body was found months later.
Burke has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, sexual abuse of a child and mutilation of a body, and his lawyers have said he did not cause Rivas Hernandez’s death.
On Tuesday, authorities had said they had evidence that Burke had purchased chain saws, an inflatable pool and a shovel that were used to kill and dismember the teen who had known him for several years and even traveled to London with him.
On Wednesday, the testimony focused on the forensic evidence authorities said they found that they say proves he killed her and got rid of the body by hiding it in a Tesla that was registered to him.
Lauren Wallace, a criminalist with the Los Angeles Police Department, testified that she found apparent blood stains on rubber mats on the floor of the garage in Burke’s Hollywood home, as well as slits — most likely from a sharp object — on the mats. Prosecutors said in a filing before the hearing that blood found in the garage matched Rivas Hernandez's DNA.
Wallace testified that she did not find blood evidence on two chain saws in the garage that purchase records showed Burke had ordered soon after the girl's death.
But she said she sprayed the floor mats with a chemical that shows possible blood stains otherwise not visible by the naked eye by making it glow blue. A photo showed the whole area cloaked in bright blue, bringing soft gasps from people in the courtroom.
And she said possible blood evidence was found on garbage bags and cleaning wipes, and a rowing machine in the garage.
Another LAPD criminalist, Chelsea Murillo, found fewer and smaller but similar stains in the Tesla.
The defense pressed the witnesses over every step of the evidence collection process, attempting to show lapses in preserving potential crime scenes. Burke's attorney, Blair Berk, asked who had been wearing gloves — or not — with access to the car, and why Murillo didn't swab for DNA on the outside of the Tesla.
“It didn’t seem necessary,” Murillo said.
Defense attorneys often use preliminary hearings to explore potential weaknesses in the prosecution's case that can be exploited at trial.
Prosecutors are seeking to prove Burke, an indie-pop singer whose music and online presence brought him a huge following, began a sexual relationship with Rivas Hernandez when she was 13 and he was 18.
They said in a court filing that she had grown jealous of his relationships with other women and threatened to expose him and ruin his career the night before she was killed.
The court filing said he sent a car to pick her up on the night of April 23, 2025, and stabbed her when she arrived at his Hollywood home.
Prosecutors say he kept the body for weeks or months in the front trunk of the Tesla, where it was found after the car was towed 4 1/2 months later in September.
Los Angeles police homicide detective Joshua Byers testified earlier that when he was called to the Hollywood tow yard he found a body bag with a head and torso inside, and garbage bags with arms and legs. Byers testified that records showed Burke had bought such a body bag on Amazon, along with the chain saws and other tools prosecutors say were used in the dismemberment.
Wallace testified that a third chain saw that police said Burke had ordered was not found.
A California Highway Patrol officer testified that a road worker in January had found Rivas Hernandez’s passport in a brushy dirt area in a rural section of Santa Barbara County, about 95 miles (150 kilometers) northwest of Burke’s Hollywood home.
Prosecutors have said Burke made two trips to the area, once on the night of the killing and again about six weeks later, where data shows he was at the spot where the passport was found.
Rivas Hernandez’s parents, Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez, have been in the audience both days. They are not expected to testify.
The defendant, who has been held without bail since his arrest, appeared in court in his orange jail clothes and glasses.
Financial witnesses testified that Burke’s music had earned him at least $10 million between 2023 and 2025.
Under the name D4vd (pronounced “David”), he began writing and recording songs for YouTube videos he created of the video game Fortnite as a teen.
The music was a blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop and made him a phenomenon on TikTok, Soundcloud and Spotify, where his top songs, including his 2022 breakthrough “Romantic Homicide,” have more than a billion plays.
In 2023, he released two EPs and opened for SZA on tour. Last year, he performed at the Coachella music festival and released a full album that he was on tour promoting when the body was discovered.
