By Joseph Ax
Aug 31 (Reuters) – The musician D4vd, facing trial on charges that he stabbed and dismembered a 14-year-old girl who threatened to expose their secret relationship, replaced his defense team on Monday with the Los Angeles public defender’s office.
D4vd, 21, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday. The appearance came a month after Judge Charlaine Olmedo found probable cause to order him to stand trial following a days-long proceeding in which prosecutors offered graphic testimony and gruesome crime-scene photos as evidence.
His lead lawyer, Blair Berk, who has defended numerous celebrities in other cases, told the judge that Burke requested new representation, but she did not say why, the Los Angeles Times reported.
It was not immediately clear how Burke qualified financially for public defender assistance, given his lucrative music career. In a statement, Burke’s former legal team said the court granted their request to withdraw as counsel “after it was determined David qualified for appointed counsel.”
Burke’s next court date is in October, according to KABC in Los Angeles.
Burke began his career as a viral TikTok sensation whose first hit single, “Romantic Homicide,” led to a multimillion-dollar deal with Interscope Records. His debut studio album was released in April 2025, the same week that prosecutors say his underage girlfriend, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, went missing.
Her decomposing remains were found five months later, crammed into the front trunk of a Tesla sedan that authorities say was registered to Burke. The singer-songwriter was arrested in April of this year and charged with first-degree murder, mutilation of human remains and child sexual abuse.
Burke murdered the girl out of fear she would ruin his burgeoning career after she threatened to go public about their sexual relationship, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Burke stabbed her to death at his Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025. During last month’s evidentiary hearing, prosecutors showed photos of three chainsaws, a shovel and other items they said Burke had purchased online under a fictitious name and had delivered to his home after the killing.
The items included a plastic blue inflatable swimming pool that prosecutors said Burke used to prevent blood from spilling onto his garage floor when she was dismembered.
Authorities matched the victim’s genetic profile to DNA samples taken from Burke’s garage, according to prosecutors.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)
