Mother of Celeste Rivas breaks down in court over gruesome testimony as stone-faced D4vd sits and watches

By MELISSA KOENIG, US REPORTER and ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: 04:54, 24 July 2026 | Updated: 04:55, 24 July 2026 The mother of a slain 14-year-old girl whose body was found chopped up inside singer D4vd's Tesla last year broke down in court on Thursday – while the artist once again remained stone-faced.  D4vd, whose real name is David Burke, is facing charges of first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains in connection with Celeste Rivas Hernandez's death. Prosecutors have claimed Burke stabbed the teenager to death then dismembered her in his garage after she threatened to reveal their sexual relationship and destroy his career. Burke, 21, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his attorneys have said they will vigorously defend him. As a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to bring the case to trial continued on Thursday, Hernandez's mom was seen crying and had to be handed a tissue, TMZ reports The emotional outburst came as a Los Angeles police criminalist detailed how blood stains in the garage of the singer's Hollywood home were a strong DNA match for the young girl. Hernandez's parents then wound up having to leave the hearing early, before a Los Angeles Medical Examiner started to testify.  Meanwhile, the singer sat emotionless during the testimony - but was also seen smiling, nodding and casually speaking to his attorneys, Marilyn Bednarski and Blair Berk, as the hearing continued, according to Los Angeles Magazine. D4vd (above), whose real name is David Burke, is facing charges of first-degree murder , continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains in connection with Celeste Rivas Hernandez's death Remains of the 14-year-old girl (above) were found chopped up in the trunk of Burke's Tesla on September 8 As a Los Angeles criminalist testified in court on Thursday, Hernandez's mother became visibly upset and the young girl's parents left the hearing early  Hernandez's remains had been found in the front trunk of Burke's Tesla on September 8, as it sat in an impound lot. Disturbing images previously displayed in court showed Hernandez's bloody head and torso inside a body bag in the trunk, as well as her severed arms and legs in a garbage bag underneath it.  When authorities then learned the vehicle belonged to the singer, police technicians took samples from apparent blood stains on a rubber floor mat, a rowing machine and a Tesla charger in the garage. Matches of several of those samples were 'one septillion times more likely to occur if it originated from Celeste rather than anyone else in the population,' criminalist Samantha Tosch testified on Thursday – pointing out that the number had 24 zeroes. Testing was also done on a trash bag in the garage and stained cleaning wipes inside it that had tested positive for the presence of blood, Rolling Stone reports. Tosch said the bag swab showed a mixture of DNA from four people, at least two of whom were male – including one she said was Burke's. Hernandez's DNA was also found on the wipes but not the bag, while Burke's DNA was not found on the wipes. Another police criminalist testified that most of the garage stains were not visible to the naked eye and were uncovered by a chemical test that makes the area glow blue. A photo displayed in court showed the rubber mat cloaked in bright blue. But under cross examination, Tosch conceded that she couldn't say with certainty that the DNA profiles came from blood, and could've been from touch. Burke, 21, was seen smiling, nodding and casually speaking to his attorney, Marilyn Bednarski and Blair Berk, on Thursday Disturbing images previously displayed in court showed Hernandez's bloody head and torso inside a body bag in the trunk, as well as her severed arms and legs in a garbage bag underneath it  Tosch also acknowledged that it can't be determined how DNA got on a spot, and that it's even possible for it to transfer between people.  The criminalist further admitted there's no way to clearly establish how long the DNA had been there. Defense attorney Blair Berk asked Tosch about the software the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) uses – which she suggested calculated only the likelihood that Burke's DNA was present in the mixture from four people. 'It's not saying David Burke's DNA was definitively found in the mixture,' the lawyer argued. Tosch then agreed that it was a 'fair' assessment, but it remained her professional opinion that the singer's DNA was present on the outer trash bag.    Burke's lawyers have previously given little indication of any counternarrative they may present about how Hernandez was killed and how her dismembered body came to be found inside the trunk of Burke's Tesla about five months later. But they began giving glimpses into their defense strategy as they pressed various prosecution witnesses on why they didn't conduct more DNA testing on items found in the singer's home and car. Berk dwelled on a pair of small chain saws found in Burke's garage, where prosecutors say he dismembered the body. Lauren Wallace, another LAPD criminalist, testified that initial chemical tests showed no signs of blood on the saws, so the handles were not swabbed for any DNA left behind by someone who touched them. 'If an item has somebody else's DNA on it, you wouldn´t be able to see that at the time,' Berk said. 'No you're not able to see touch DNA,' Wallace admitted before reiterating that the blades had tested negative for blood. 'But that doesn´t preclude at all that there could be somebody else's touch DNA,' Berk noted. Prosecutors have claimed Burke stabbed the teenager to death then dismembered her in his garage after she threatened to reveal their sexual relationship and destroy his career  They claim he started a sexual relationship with Hernandez when she was just 13 years old and he was 18 Prosecutors have claimed Burke began a sexual relationship with Hernandez when she was just 13 years old and he was 18 in November 2023. When she then went missing that year, Hernandez's mother told police her daughter was dating a guy she had never met, named David. Authorities then questioned Burke about his relationship with the teenager, to which he said he believed Hernandez was 18 because 'she told me she was 18,' LA County Sheriff's Senior Deputy Juan Gonzalez testified on Tuesday. The singer then allegedly shared Hernandez's phone number with the deputies and showed them photos from his phone of her yearbook picture. When Hernandez later returned home, her family took her phone away.  But prosecutors say Burke continued to pursue her – even paying a junior high school student in her class $1,000 so that the classmate could get Hernandez a new phone. 'Throughout 2024, the victim spent a significant amount of time with defendant, including summer weekends at his home in the Hollywood Hills and traveling with him to Las Vegas, London, and Texas to meet his family,' they alleged in court documents. 'Text exchanges between the victim and defendant contain references to sex, pregnancy, abortion and use of the Plan B emergency contraceptive.' D4vd performed at last year's Coachella music festival just a few weeks before prosecutors said Rivas Hernandez was killed Prosecutors further alleged that they broke up in November 2024, but they continued to communicate. After they then broke up again last April, the teenager became jealous over Burke's relationship with other women, the preliminary trial brief claims. Hernandez then 'threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life,' the documents state. At that time, prosecutors say, Burke was set to release his first solo album and had a multimillion-dollar career at stake. With that allegedly on his mind, Burke sent an Uber to pick Rivas Hernandez up at her home in Lake Elsinore, California, at around 8.40pm on April 23 last year, and she was dropped off at the home he was renting in Hollywood Hills at around 10.10pm. That is when he allegedly killed the teenager.  Prosecutors say he then kept the body for weeks or months in the front trunk of the Tesla, where it was found after the car was towed four and a half months later while the singer was on tour promoting his debut album.