{"id":63561,"date":"2026-04-29T21:53:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T21:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/d4vd-was-last-person-to-drive-tesla-before-body-found-in-trunk-da\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T21:53:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T21:53:47","slug":"d4vd-was-last-person-to-drive-tesla-before-body-found-in-trunk-da","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/d4vd-was-last-person-to-drive-tesla-before-body-found-in-trunk-da\/","title":{"rendered":"D4vd Was ‘Last Person to Drive’ Tesla Before Body Found in Trunk: DA"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tD4vd<\/a> appeared in court Wednesday as his lawyers asked that his preliminary hearing be delayed several weeks. The evidentiary hearing that was set to begin Friday has been pushed to May 26.<\/p>\n

\n\tMinutes after the hearing ended, prosecutors released a blockbuster evidence brief claiming that \u201csurveillance video and other evidence confirm defendant was the last person to drive\u201d his Tesla before the dismembered and decomposed remains of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas were found in the front trunk last September.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe brief, obtained by Rolling Stone<\/em>, claims the platinum-selling singer, born David Anthony Burke, first met Rivas when she was 11 years old. Prosecutors allege Burke \u201cbegan a sexual relationship\u201d with Rivas when she was 13, and that Riverside County officials contacted Burke in February 2024 and informed him of her age after she was reported missing by her family.<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite being contacted by law enforcement, Burked \u201ccontinued to pursue\u201d Rivas, the filing states. He allegedly drove to her home in Lake Elsinore, south of Los Angeles, and \u201cpaid a junior high school student in the victim\u2019s class $1,000 to give the victim a cell phone [that he] purchased so they could stay in contact,\u201d prosecutors claim.<\/p>\n

\n\tRecovered texts between Burke and Rivas \u201ccontain references to sex, pregnancy, abortion, and use of the Plan B emergency contraceptive,\u201d the brief alleges. Burke and Rivas also exchanged \u201cexplicit photographs documenting and corroborating their sexual relationship,\u201d it claims.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to prosecutors, Burke \u201cbroke up\u201d with Rivas in November 2024, though they continued to communicate. The new nine-page filing alleges Burke and Rivas \u201cengaged in a lengthy argument described in detail in their text messages\u201d on the night before Rivas was last seen alive.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe messages reveal the victim\u2019s jealousy over defendant\u2019s relationships with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together,\u201d the brief reads. Rivas purportedly became \u201cextremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life,\u201d prosecutors claim. Burke sent an Uber to pick Rivas up from Lake Elsinore on April 23, 2025, the night she allegedly was murdered.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cThe circumstances and present state of discovery led us to conclude we need this additional time to review the discovery we just got or are about ot get,\u201d Burke\u2019s defense lawyer Marilyn Bednarski said at the Wednesday afternoon hearing.<\/p>\n

\n\tJudge Charlaine Olmedo asked Burke if he agreed to the postponement. \u201cYes, your honor,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n

\n\tBurke, 21, has been charged<\/a> with the first-degree murder<\/a> of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 14-year-old girl found dismembered and badly decomposed in the front trunk of his Tesla last September. <\/p>\n

\n\tProsecutors also charged him with continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains. They added special circumstance allegations of murder of a witness, murder for financial gain, and lying in wait, which makes him eligible for the death penalty. (Though prosecutors have not yet decided whether to pursue it.) Burke has pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n

\n\tLast week, Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman revealed that Burke\u2019s iCloud account, obtained by investigators, contained what she described as \u201ca significant amount of child pornography.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBurke\u2019s lawyers, Marilyn Bednarski and Blair Berk, pressed for an immediate preliminary hearing. Judge Charlaine Olmedo said it would begin this Friday, May 1.<\/p>\n

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\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tBurke was arrested on April 16<\/a> at a house in the Hollywood Hills. Prosecutors said police served a simultaneous search warrant at the property not far from the iconic Chateau Maramont hotel. Silverman said the case involves a large volume of evidence, including material obtained through a wiretap, and that three grand juries were convened in recent months to investigate.<\/p>\n

\n\tA long-awaited autopsy report released last week<\/a> concluded Rivas died from \u201cmultiple penetrating injuries\u201d to the upper abdomen. It described two stab wounds that perforated her liver and chest. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe report also described the condition of her remains, noting dismemberment and advanced decomposition that made visual identification and fingerprinting impossible. Toxicology showed a low level of ethanol and presumptive positives for several drugs pending confirmation.<\/p>\n

\n\tProsecutors allege Rivas was last seen entering Burke\u2019s Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, and was killed that day. They contend her body was mutilated weeks later. Burke\u2019s lawyers have said he \u201cdid not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIf convicted as charged, Burke faces either life in state prison, without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty. Prosecutors have said a decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made at a later date.<\/p>\n

\n\tBorn in New York and later raised in Texas, Burke first gained attention as a Fortnite<\/em> gamer and musician with the self-produced song, \u201cYou and I.\u201d He broke through to mainstream success in the summer of 2022 with the hit singles \u201cRomantic Homicide\u201d and \u201cHere With Me,\u201d after they garnered so much traction on TikTok, they jumped to spots on the\u00a0Billboard<\/em>\u00a0charts. He released his debut EP,\u00a0Petals to Thorns<\/em>, in May 2023.<\/p>\n

\n\tHis debut studio album,\u00a0Withered<\/em>, was released in April 2025, two days after Rivas was seen for the last time.<\/p>\n

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\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tAt a press conference, LADA Nathan Hochman claimed that Rivas was only 13 years old when Burke allegedly engaged in repeated \u201clewd and lascivious sexual relations with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBurke\u2019s actions did not allegedly stop there,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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