A Los Angeles judge ruled on Monday that indie pop singer D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, must stand trial on charges that he fatally stabbed and dismembered 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
Judge Charlaine Olmedo said prosecutors had met the probable-cause threshold after a five-day preliminary hearing in a packed downtown courtroom, where Burke, 21, was shackled to his seat as graphic testimony and crime-scene photographs were presented.
Prosecutors allege Burke killed the girl after she threatened to expose their clandestine sexual relationship, a claim they say could have jeopardised the music career he built from viral TikTok success and his breakout single “Romantic Homicide.”
Burke's debut studio album was released in April 2025, the week prosecutors say Rivas Hernandez disappeared. Her decomposing remains were found five months later in the trunk of a Tesla that authorities say was registered to Burke, after workers at an impound lot noticed the smell of decay.
The singer-songwriter was arrested in April this year and charged with first-degree murder, mutilation of human remains and child sexual abuse.
He pleaded not guilty at a 20 April arraignment, and his attorney Blair Berk said the evidence would show he did not murder Rivas Hernandez or cause her death.
During the hearing, prosecutors described online purchases they said Burke made under a fictitious name after the killing, including three chain saws, a shovel and a blue inflatable swimming pool. A homicide detective testified that parts of the victim's body was found in a cadaver bag and garbage bag inside the Tesla, while shreds of blue plastic were embedded in severed limbs.
Detectives said biological samples from Burke's garage tested positive for blood and matched the victim's DNA profile. Prosecutors also cited messages in which the girl threatened to ruin Burke's career and said a murder-for-financial-gain allegation could make him eligible for the death penalty.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said his office had not decided whether to seek the death penalty, but he said prosecutors were confident they could meet the higher trial standard of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to a unanimous 12-member jury.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Norway for talks about the Russia-Ukraine war. He is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who arrived in Oslo earlier. Witkoff will also meet European officials.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said regional issues should be resolved through diplomacy and blamed the United States for insecurity and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, speaking at a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday.
Yemen's Houthis have denied targeting the holy city of Medina on Wednesday adding that they have not conducted any military operations towards Saudi Arabia either, denying earlier comments from the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
French authorities imposed local curfews in parts of Paris, Lille and Nice on Monday after a weekend of riots and looting linked to nationwide anti-government protests, as the government faced mounting criticism over security failures.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, with discussions focused on the war in Ukraine and the prospects for progress in ongoing diplomatic efforts.
A former gang leader was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on Tuesday for orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting death of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, capping the prosecution of a long-unsolved murder that shaped the golden age of rap music.
Here’s your AnewZ Daily Brief for 14 October 2026, featuring the top five culture and entertainment stories from around the world.
Two paintings by French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir worth millions of dollars have been recovered a month after they were stolen from a French Riviera museum. Four men have been charged in connection with the theft, while two other suspects have been released without charge.
Iran has unveiled the restored mausoleum of 13th-century mystic Shams Tabrizi in the northwestern city of Khoy, with plans for a cultural tourism route linking the site to the shrine of renowned Persian poet Rumi in Konya, Türkiye.
AnewZ has premiered its new documentary film Kontrapunkt in Berlin, exploring more than two centuries of shared German-Azerbaijani history and the legacy of German communities in Azerbaijan.
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