![\"Celeste](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d4vd-s-lawyers-ask-why-more-dna-testing-was-not-done-after-girl-s-killing.jpg\")
Celeste Rivas Hernandez\u00a0 was found dead inside a vehicle owned by D4vd (Damian Dovarganes\/AP)\n<\/p>\nLawyers for D4vd began showing glimpses of their defence strategy on Thursday, pressing police on why they did not do more DNA testing on items found in the singer\u2019s home and in his car that authorities said were used in the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.<\/p>\n
The questioning came on the third day of a preliminary hearing where a judge will decide whether there is probable cause for D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, to be put on trial on charges of murder, sexual abuse of a child and mutilation of a body.<\/p>\n
He has pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n
His lawyers have said they will vigorously defend his innocence, but have previously given little indication of any counter-narrative they may present about how Ms Rivas Hernandez was killed and how her dismembered body was found in the boot of Burke\u2019s Tesla.<\/p>\n
Celeste Rivas Hernandez\u00a0 was found dead inside a vehicle owned by D4vd (Damian Dovarganes\/AP)\n<\/p>\n
Defence lawyer Blair Berk dwelled on a pair of small chain saws found in Burke\u2019s garage, where prosecutors say he dismembered the body.<\/p>\n
Lauren Wallace, a criminalist with the Los Angeles Police Department, gave evidence 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 it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf an item has somebody else\u2019s DNA on it, you wouldn\u2019t be able to see that at the time,\u201d Ms Berk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo you\u2019re not able to see touch DNA,\u201d Wallace said, then reiterated that the blades had tested negative for blood.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that doesn\u2019t preclude at all that there could be somebody else\u2019s touch DNA,\u201d Berk said.<\/p>\n
Under prosecution questioning, Ms Wallace said testing for DNA at the suspect\u2019s residence would not make sense because the suspect\u2019s DNA would be everywhere.<\/p>\n
Ms Berk soon after asked her: \u201cYou were aware that multiple people lived at this residence, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Wallace answered, \u201cYes, we were aware.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"D4vd\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784914462_211_d4vd-s-lawyers-ask-why-more-dna-testing-was-not-done-after-girl-s-killing.jpg\")
David Anthony Burke, whose stage name is D4vd (Ted Soqui\/Pool\/AP)\n<\/p>\n
Ms Wallace said earlier that throughout the garage, she found indications of blood that had been cleaned up.<\/p>\n
She said on Thursday that her team also found jugs of fake blood in the garage. Ms Berk suggested through her questioning that Burke had used it in music videos.<\/p>\n
An indie-pop singer whose music and online presence brought him a huge following, D4vd\u2019s songs and videos often have dark and violent imagery often delivered through an alter-ego character he calls Itami.<\/p>\n
His breakthrough single in 2022 was called Romantic Homicide, one of several of his songs with more than a billion plays on Spotify.<\/p>\n
His debut full-length album, Withered, was released two days after prosecutors say Ms Rivas Hernandez was killed.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, he wore orange jail clothes and glasses, sitting at the defence table calmly and intently watching the witnesses give evidence.<\/p>\n
He did not betray any emotion during the proceedings but was seen during the recess interacting with and smiling with his lawyers.<\/p>\n
Ms Rivas Hernandez\u2019s parents were back in court on Thursday, sitting in the front row. They did not have a visible reaction to the mostly technical evidence.<\/p>\n
A police detective also gave evidence that phone-tower tracking of Burke\u2019s phone and a system in his Tesla showed he was at his Hollywood home on the night of April 23, 2025 \u2014 the time and place prosecutors say Ms Rivas Hernandez was killed.<\/p>\n
The data showed that later that night, he travelled to a remote part of Santa Barbara County about 95 miles to the northwest.<\/p>\n
He made two subsequent visits to the area in May, including to a spot where Ms Rivas Hernandez\u2019s passport was found by a highway worker, the detective testified.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors are seeking to prove Burke began a sexual relationship with Ms Rivas Hernandez when she was 13 and he was 18.<\/p>\n
They said in a court filing that she had grown jealous of his relationships with other women and threatened to expose him and ruin his multimillion-dollar career the night before she was killed.<\/p>\n
The court filing said he sent a car to pick her up on the night of April 23, 2025, and stabbed her when she arrived at his home.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say he kept the body for weeks or months in the front boot of the Tesla, where it was found after the car was towed four and a half months months later in September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lawyers for D4vd began showing glimpses of their defence strategy on Thursday, pressing police on why they did…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60],"class_list":["post-566301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}