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    D4vd’s Attorneys Withdraw From Celeste Hernandez Murder Case

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    Watch: D4vd’s Attorneys Unexpectedly Withdraw From Celeste Rivas Hernandez Murder Case

    Content warning: This article contains details of an alleged murder. 

    D4vd is being backed by a new legal team. 

    During an Aug. 31 court appearance, the “Romantic Homicide” singer’s attorney Blair Berk announced his client’s desire to obtain a public defender after his original team asked to withdraw from the case, according to NBC News.

    Following the announcement, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo reportedly asked Dv4d (real name David Anthony Burke) if that was his wish, to which the 21-year-old responded, “Yes.”

    Dv4d was in court for a pre-trial hearing for charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains—to which he entered a plea of not guilty—in the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. 

    Following the news, public defender Walid Fouad Kandee emerged from the gallery to take place by his newly appointed client’s side.

    After dismissal, a statement from Berk and D4vd’s other former attorney Regina Peter shared additional insight into the change in representation, revealing it was the pair’s choice to leave the case.

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    D4vd’s Final Texts With Celeste Rivas Hernandez Before Her Murder Revealed

    “This morning the court granted our request to withdraw as counsel and appoint the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office after it was determined David qualified for appointed counsel,” according to a statement from Berk, per NBC News. “We continue to support David and his defense against these serious charges.”

    The statement continued, “We are grateful that the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office has taken over the representation and that David has a highly capable and committed team of attorneys and investigators behind him.”

    Ted Soqui – Pool/Getty Images

    The Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office also addressed the change, expressing its well wishes to Hernandez’s family. 

    “We recognize the loss of life underlying the allegations and extend our sympathies to those who are grieving,” the 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.”

    D4vd was arrested in April of this year, seven months after police found the remains of Hernandez in the trunk of an impounded Tesla belonging to the singer.

    D4vd is accused of luring Hernandez to his home on April 23, 2025, fatally stabbing her and then dismembering her body with a chainsaw. 

    Frederic J. BROWN / AFP via Getty Images

    The prosecution also alleges text messages between Dv4d and Hernandez prior to her death indicate they were engaged in a sexual relationship when she was just 13 years old and that she allegedly underwent an abortion after getting pregnant with his baby. 

    While D4vd has pleaded not guilty to the charges, L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman alleged in a statement that the singer is “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the brutal murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.”

    “This has been a parent’s worst nightmare,” he added, “hearing the ghoulish details of how their child was killed, dismembered and left as trash.”

    D4vd’s next court appearance is set for Oct. 19.

    For additional details in the case against D4vd so far, read on. 

    David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images

    Evidence of Blood Found in D4vd’s Garage, Forensics Expert TestifiesThe murder case against D4vd in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez is headed to trial. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo ruled July 27 that there was enough evidence to try the singer born David Anthony Burke on charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a minor and mutilation of a corpse.”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,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a subsequent statement. “The only headlines that will accompany his stage name from here forward will be about the vicious murder of a young girl.”LAPD criminologist Lauren Wallace testified July 22 during a preliminary hearing that, using chemical analysis, she found evidence of blood in the garage of D4vd’s Hollywood Hills home, where he’s accused of using a chainsaw to dismember Hernandez’s body after fatally stabbing her.Under defense cross-examination, Wallace said she couldn’t say it was “definitely” blood, but rather, “I can say it is possibly blood.”Also under cross, L.A. County Deputy Medical Examiner Grant Ho said it was unlikely but he couldn’t entirely rule out the possibility that Hernandez was holding the instrument that injured her.A murder weapon has not been recovered and Ho testified that he couldn’t definitively identify what the weapon was, nor could he describe the circumstances of the slaying.

    David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images

    Text Messages Detail Celeste Rivas Hernandez had an Abortion, According to ProsecutionText messages and photos exchanged by Hernandez and D4vd show that she got impregnated by the singer in 2024, when she was 13, and had an abortion at his behest, according to prosecutors.LAPD Detective Corey Farell testified July 24 that nearly 50 photos found on D4vd’s phone showed the defendant and the victim engaged in sex acts or otherwise undressed.In a text exchange from January 2024, per messages presented in court, D4vd asked Hernandez, “wen u gonna get it done,” to which she replied, “two days.”He then wrote, “also my mother always told me to ask this question if I was ever in this situation … it is mine right?”Hernandez wrote back, “of course its yours David.”She expressed regret in an August 2024 message, also shown in court, writing, “I care abt u i killed my kid [for] you. i don’t like talking about it cause it gets [me really] upset but id do anything to have it back.” 

    Frederic J. BROWN / AFP via Getty Images

    Defense Says Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s Family Knew About D4vd RelationshipDet. Farell testified July 27 that Hernandez’s family was aware of her relationship with D4vd, noting that her parents signed a waiver that allowed her to travel with the artist to London in 2024.Defense attorney Blair Berk said in court, per the Los Angeles Times, that Hernandez’s adult sister was in Las Vegas at the same time the teen was there with D4vd and knew they were together.Under cross-examination, Farell told Berk that he didn’t know whether her assertion that D4vd attended church with Hernandez’s family was true, but testified that the singer and the teen did discuss a plan to do so over text.Hernandez family attorney Patrick Steinfeld said after the hearing, per ABC 7, that they were “horrified that the defense attorneys brought up evidence to put the blame on a 14-year-old girl.”

    Ted Soqui – Pool/Getty Images

    Celeste Rivas Hernandez Threatened in Final Text Messages to Destroy D4vd’s LifeSeemingly mad about another woman, Hernandez texted D4vd on April 22, 2025, “oh my … god I swear to GOD I will kill u she was in my dam seat i will strangle u to … death bro. I will tell my dad so many … lies about u … i will end ur career and ur life I will damage anything.”The prosecution alleges that D4vd invited Hernandez over to his house on April 23, and she was never seen alive again.Her final text to him was sent at 10:01 p.m: “girly pop im almost there open your door if you are home.” He responded, “got you,” then added about 10 minutes later, “gate open door unlocked.” The defense established during the hearing that Hernandez asked to see D4vd repeatedly for several days before he agreed to see her on April 23.

    Ted Soqui – Pool/Getty Images

    D4vd Texted Celeste Rivas Hernandez After She Was Dead, According to ProsecutorsD4vd texted Hernandez’s phone at 10:30 p.m. on April 23, 2025, then called and texted again as he left his house and drove toward Santa Barbara, according to a prosecution brief regarding preliminary hearing evidence filed in April 2026.”The People contend this was part of defendant’s premeditated plan to to cover up the murder, as she was already dead by this time,” the filing states.He returned home on the morning of April 24, the filing continues, did a radio interview to promote his new album Withered, which was due out the next day, and sent two more texts to Hernandez’s phone “which obviously went unanswered.”

    David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images

    Prosecutors Allege Plan to Dispose of Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s BodyHernandez’s decomposed remains, including a hand with two fingers missing, were discovered in the front trunk of his Tesla on Sept. 8 after the vehicle was reported as abandoned and towed to a Hollywood impound lot.Prosecutors’ April filing alleges that D4vd ordered a shovel from Home Depot on April 24, 2025, and—on May 1—two chainsaws from Amazon.On May 5, also from Amazon, he had a “body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags and a blue inflatable pool” delivered to his home, the filing says. Then, on July 7, he ordered and received a “‘burn cage'” from Amazon, “as part of his plan to incinerate evidence.”He made all the purchases using the name Victoria Mendez, according to prosecutors.Blue plastic fragments were found “embedded among the victim’s remains,” the filing says, and prosecutors alleged in the brief that D4vd amputated her left pinky and ring finger (neither of which were recovered) because she had his name tattooed on her ring finger.

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