A preliminary hearing for the murder case against singer D4vd, legal name David Anthony Burke, has been delayed until the end of June due to the amount of new evidence in the case, prosecutors said.
Burke appeared in court for a status hearing on Tuesday when the decision to delay the hearing until June 29 was announced, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman told the court that prosecutors have already turned over more than 10 terabytes of digital evidence, including materials found as part of a series of search warrants that were executed on the 21-year-old singer’s phone and iCloud account.
Silverman said prosecutors are continuing to upload evidence and added that the overall discovery could exceed 40 terabytes.
Burke has been charged with murder in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose decomposed body was found in the trunk of a Tesla registered to the singer last year.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges last month and is being held without bond ahead of his trial.
When asked if he agreed to the new preliminary hearing date of June 29, Burke replied: “Yes, your honour.”
Burke is due back in court for a status conference on June 17 before the June 29 preliminary hearing, which is expected to last five to six days.
Burke’s preliminary hearing was previously rescheduled for May 26 after it had originally been set to begin on May 1.
Get breaking National news
Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.
The hearing comes after prosecutors alleged last month that Burke killed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez by stabbing her multiple times.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office shared what it said the evidence would show in a document that provided the first detailed allegations of efforts to dismember Rivas’s body and get rid of evidence, according to The Associated Press.
The court filing, viewed and obtained by The Associated Press, alleges that Burke began a sexual relationship with her when she was 13 and he was 18, and killed her when she threatened to reveal their inappropriate relationship.
“Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened, very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out,” the filings allege.
Prosecutors obtained text messages between the two from April 22, 2025, the night before all her phone activity went quiet and they believe she was killed.
“The messages reveal the victim’s jealousy over defendant’s relationships with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together. She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life,” the document says.
The document alleges that Burke bought two chainsaws online that he used to cut apart her body in an inflatable pool. They said Rivas’s DNA was found in his garage, where they allege the dismemberment occurred.
“Defendant took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim’s body,” prosecutors said in the brief.
Rivas’s death was ruled a homicide in the report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office that had been blocked from release for months.
The autopsy was limited by “extensive postmortem changes” to the body that was dismembered and decomposing when it was found in two bags in the trunk of a Tesla parked in the Hollywood Hills in September 2025.
The examination revealed “two penetrating wounds of the torso with smooth edges that may represent sharp force injuries.” One wound on the upper abdomen penetrated the liver. Another, on the left chest, damaged her ribs. The tube top she was wearing appeared to be cut in three places.
A judge had ordered the report sealed late last year at the request of law enforcement, but prosecutors agreed to allow its release in April.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office previously announced that Burke was charged with first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14 and mutilating a body in the killing of Rivas. She was reported missing by her family in 2024, when she was 13. Authorities say she was 14 when she died.
The murder charges included special circumstances — lying in wait, committing a crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an investigation — that could carry the death penalty. Prosecutors haven’t announced whether they will seek it.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Rivas was last heard from on April 23, 2025, after she went to Burke’s home and “she was never heard from again.”
“A parent’s nightmare is a situation where your daughter goes out one night and never comes back,” Hochman said.
“Celeste was just a child, under 14 years old, when David Burke allegedly engaged in repeated lewd and lascivious sexual relations with her,” Hochman continued. “But Burke’s actions did not allegedly stop there. When she threatened to expose his criminal conduct and devastate his musical career, Burke allegedly murdered her, cut up her body and stuffed her body in two bags that were placed in the front trunk of his car.
“There the dismembered body sat for over four months, decomposing until it was found at a tow yard on Sept. 8, 2025. This horrific and gruesome murder committed by the charged sexual predator is shocking and appalling. To Celeste’s loved ones, we will get the justice you seek and deserve.”
— with files from The Associated Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.