Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The body of a teenage girl found in the trunk of US singer D4vd’s car had decomposed to the point it was “unrecognizable,” a police detective testified in a Los Angeles court on Tuesday. The 21-year-old D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, faces several charges including murder in the horrifying death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Her body was discovered in Burke’s Tesla last September within days of what would have been her 15th birthday.
Los Angeles Police Detective Joshua Byers testified during the preliminary hearing’s first day, saying that when law enforcement opened the trunk of Burke’s car in a tow yard, he recognized the “very distinctive smell” of a corpse. Grim photographs of the girl’s dismembered remains were shown to the court, with a large black bag containing her head and torso. When asked whether he was able to recognize any facial features, Byers said: “No, there was quite a bit of decomposition to where skin slippage… made it unrecognizable.” Her arms and legs were found in a separate bag where “there was insect activity. There were maggots. There were various stages of flies,” Byers told the court.
Burke, who attended the court hearing wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, did not flinch when the pictures were shown. Prosecutors said the singer met the girl when she was just 11 years old and started a sexual relationship when she was 13. Body camera footage played during the hearing Tuesday showed Burke telling sheriff deputies: “She told me she was 18. Everybody saying she was 13.” The victim’s mother had reported her missing in 2024 when she was just 13 years old.
Prosecutors alleged in charging papers that Burke killed her after she threatened to make their long-standing and illegal sexual relationship public, jeopardizing his singing career. Prosecutors also called to the stand Burke’s former financial manager, Benjamin Greger, to illustrate his financial motive to protect his music career. Greger testified that his former employer made between $10 million and $11 million in gross income between 2023 and 2025 from his music.
Burke has denied one count each of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains. He could face life imprisonment or the death penalty if convicted. Los Angeles County prosecutor Nathan Hochman said the preliminary hearing, in which a judge will determine whether the case proceeds to trial, will last “three to five days.” “We believe we will more than accomplish the evidentiary burden of probable cause at this point to hold David to answer on these three felony charges,” Hochman told the press.
© 2024 AFP
