Celeste Rivas’ parents made the trek into court on Tuesday, looking serious as they arrived for the preliminary hearing in D4vd’s murder case. Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez were spotted walking down the street in downtown Los Angeles, holding hands on their way into the courthouse, and looking solemn.
This is the moment no parent should ever face—sitting in a Los Angeles courtroom watching prosecutors lay out evidence against the man accused of killing your teenage daughter. And the details coming out are nothing short of haunting. D4vd has been charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas, and this week, the judge is hearing whether there’s enough evidence to send this case to trial.
According to prosecutors, D4vd purchased two chainsaws online and used them to dismember Rivas’ body in an inflatable pool. In the first day of a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors presented evidence to support those charges that included graphic images of Celeste’s body parts, tattoos on Burke and Rivas Hernandez that prosecutors said appeared to match, and Burke’s digital footprint, including Amazon purchase records. The Rivas family had to sit through all of it—every document, every image, every piece of evidence linking their daughter’s death to the 21-year-old musician who prosecutors say killed her to protect his multi-million-dollar music career.
Here’s what led to this courtroom moment: D4vd and Celeste met three years earlier in 2022. She was just 11 at the time. Prosecutors say they began a sexual relationship in November 2023; he was 18 and she was 13. What started as a predatory relationship turned fatal when Celeste “became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life.” Celeste visited Burke’s Hollywood Hills home April 23, 2025, but was never “heard from” again.
The Lake Elsinore girl’s decomposed body was found Sept. 8 in the front trunk of a Tesla impounded at a Los Angeles tow yard. The discovery came after workers noticed a foul odor. Authorities say officers found two separate cadaver bags in the front storage compartment: one covered with insects containing a “decomposed head and torso” and a second containing the girl’s arms and legs. Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman alleges D4vd had a long-term sexual relationship with the underage girl while he was an adult, and he killed her to protect his career — dismembering her and leaving her body in his car.
The culture has a real reckoning moment here. This isn’t some abstract “celebrity problem”—this is a predator with a TikTok following and a record deal, accused of abusing a child for months before allegedly murdering her and trying to dispose of her body like trash. Celeste’s family makes their first public statement through their attorney about the case. They describe her as a “beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance.” That’s who she was. Not a victim—though she was victimized. A person. A girl with dreams, with family who loved her, with her whole life in front of her.
The preliminary hearing is still ongoing, and every day Jesus and Mercedes Rivas walk back into that courtroom to hear more details about how their daughter was killed and disposed of. The stakes now: whether this goes to trial, whether D4vd faces jury justice, whether the culture finally sends a message that this isn’t survivable—not for the perpetrator, not his career, not his legacy.
The 16BARS take: The Rivas family’s courage in facing this court battle head-on is heartbreaking precisely because they shouldn’t have to do it—and their baby girl shouldn’t be gone. Whatever happens in that courtroom, one thing’s certain: D4vd’s career, his music, his name—it’s over.
