The California singer accused of grooming a 14-year-old girl only to murder her when she threatened to expose him and then dismembering her remains with a chainsaw appeared in front of a Los Angeles judge Tuesday for the first day of a preliminary hearing expected to clear the way for the case to go to trial.David Burke, who performs under the name "D4vd," is accused of killing a teen girl named Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose unrecognizable remains prosecutors say were found chopped up and decomposing in the trunk of his Tesla, abandoned 400 feet up the street from his home in Hollywood Hills.Two of her fingers, which contained identifying tattoos, were never recovered.Burke faces charges of murder, child sex abuse and unlawful mutilation of human remains.RISING SINGER DISMEMBERED TEEN WHO THREATENED TO EXPOSE HIM IN KIDDIE POOL WITH CHAINSAW: DASinger D4vd was arrested in Los Angeles in connection to the murder of a 14-year-old girl found in a Tesla trunk, police say.
(Photo by Timothy Norris/Getty Images for Coachella)Prior to the hearing, which is expected to take about three to five days, Celeste's parents, Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez, were spotted entering the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.There were no cameras allowed in the courtroom Tuesday as prosecutors displayed gruesome images and shared brutal details with the court.A Los Angeles homicide detective took the stand to discuss the grisly scene, with Celeste's parents opting to remain in the gallery when given a chance to leave before his testimony, according to FOX 11 Los Angeles.SEND US A TIP HEREPhotographs, intimate notes, and flowers are among the items left at a memorial on Thursday for slain teen Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who was found dead in the trunk of a Tesla in a Hollywood tow yard on Sept.25, 2025, in Lake Elsinore, California.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)"There were maggots," LAPD Detective Joshua Byers testified, according to the California Post....