D4vd’s attorneys withdraw from murder case, public defender appointed
D4vd's legal representation was granted a withdrawal during a hearing on Monday, as the singer was arraigned on charges alleging he murdered a teenage girl whose decomposed remains were found in the front trunk of his abandoned vehicle last year.
D4vd pleaded not guilty during the hearing, which comes a month after a judge ruled that the singer will stand trial on first-degree murder, sexual abuse of a child and unlawful mutilation of human remains charges in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
He has been appointed a public defender.
"We recognize the loss of life underlying the allegations and extend our sympathies to those who are grieving," the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office said in a statement. "At the same time, David Burke is entitled to a defense that takes his circumstances seriously and carefully examines the evidence. We are committed to providing him with that defense."
His next court date has been set for Oct. 19, at which point attorneys will confirm if they are ready for trial within 90 days, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
The DA's office has not yet made a determination on whether it will seek the death penalty, Hochman said following Monday's hearing.
D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, previously pleaded not guilty to the same charges following his arrest in April. He has remained held without bail.
Prosecutors allege that D4vd and Rivas Hernandez began a sexual relationship in 2023, when he was 18 and she was 13, and that he killed her after she threatened to expose their illegal relationship and ruin his career.
Just as tickets for his world tour were set to go on sale, it is alleged that the "Romantic Homicide" singer ordered an Uber that brought Rivas Hernandez to his Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, prosecutors said. That was the last time she was seen alive, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege that D4vd stabbed the teen multiple times, watching her bleed out, and then undertook a series of "ghoulish" steps to dismember her body and get rid of evidence. Her badly decomposed remains were found in two body bags in the front trunk of D4vd's impounded Tesla in September 2025, according to prosecutors.
During a five-day hearing in July, prosecutors presented some of their evidence in the case. They called a dozen witnesses as they set out to establish probable cause that D4vd committed the criminal offenses to move forward with a trial.
"D4vd allegedly squandered his fame and fortune by brutally killing a young girl because he feared their illicit sexual relationship would ruin his aspiring career," Hochman said following the preliminary hearing. "The only headlines that will accompany his stage name from here forward will be about the vicious murder of a young girl."
