Autopsy doctor details teen's fatal injuries at hearing on D4vd murder case
At a Los Angeles preliminary hearing, the medical examiner described the sharp-force wounds that killed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez and noted the difficulty of determining the exact time of death.
A Los Angeles County medical examiner testified on Friday about the injuries that caused the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a key element in a hearing to decide whether singer David Burke, known as D4vd, will face trial. Dr. Grant Ho confirmed that the teen suffered two sharp-force wounds—one to the abdomen that pierced the liver and another to the left chest that damaged ribs—resulting in rapid blood loss. He said the injuries would have caused death within minutes, though he could not specify an exact timeframe because the body had decomposed significantly before discovery.
Ho indicated the victim had been dead for “at least weeks,” and when asked if the interval could extend to four or five months, he replied “potentially.” Authorities estimate the killing occurred in April 2025, with the body found in a Tesla trunk in September, the day after the girl would have turned 15.
The hearing, which began on Tuesday, will allow a judge to determine if the case proceeds to trial. Burke, dressed in orange jail attire, sat beside his attorneys and showed no visible reaction during the testimony. Prosecutors allege that Burke began sexually abusing Rivas Hernandez when she was 13 and he was 18, and that he stabbed her after she threatened to expose the relationship. They also claim he dismembered the body in his garage, citing DNA matches from blood-stain samples.
Burke has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, sexual abuse of a child and mutilation of a body. The case remains pending.
"She didn't make it to her 15th birthday, correct?" Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman asked. "Correct," Dr. Ho replied.