Add The California Post on Google Lawyers for accused murderer D4vd argued in court Friday that his alleged victim Celeste Rivas could have committed suicide before her dismembered body was discovered in the trunk of the singer’s Tesla.The defense team for the musician, real name David Burke, said the possibility that Rivas stabbed herself couldn’t be ruled out, after medical examiner Dr. Grant Ho testified about two wounds found the teen’s body.
One of the wounds was discovered on her right abdomen and one on the chest. The wound to her abdomen punctured Rivas’ liver and was compatible with “sharp force injury,” Ho testified.
When the doctor was asked by D4vd’s lawyers whether Rivas could have been “holding the instrument” that caused the wounds, Ho responded that “usually we would find hesitation marks.”
Ho also noted that Rivas’ cause of death was homicide die to “multiple penetrating injuries.”
Investigators testified Friday during the preliminary hearing that the teen’s body was found cut into multiple pieces, with Ho described Rivas’ upper and lower extremities being dismembered.
Ho said each leg had two dismemberment sites — one below the thigh and one around the knee — possibly done by a power tool.
The preliminary hearing kicked off on Tuesday with the court shown gruesome images of Rivas’ decapitated and mutilated corpse as her family looked in horror.
Several photos showed the young girl’s dismembered body, including arms and legs in a trash bag, a head and torso in a body bag, and severed hands with missing fingers.
Over the hearing’s first two days, the court has heard dramatic testimony from law enforcement and forensic experts.
Burke has been charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances — lying in wait, murder of a witness to an investigation and murder for financial gain.
Additionally, he was also charged with lewd and lascivious sexual acts with an individual under 14 years old, and for mutilating the human remains of a body.
According to legal documents obtained by The California Post, D4vd ordered an Uber to deliver Rivas from her family home in Lake Elsinore to his Hollywood Hills home on the night of April 23, 2025.
He then stabbed her and stood by while she bled to death, prosecutors said.
The preliminary hearing is expected to last from three to five days and will determine whether Burke will face a trial possible next year.
