D4vd: The evidence prosecutors say links him to the crime

The April 29, 2026 filing from the Los Angeles County District Attorney lays out a chain of physical, digital, and purchase records that prosecutors claim tie D4vd directly to the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. The brief moves past general suspicion and lists specific items that investigators recovered from his home, his car, and his phone. Those details now form the core of the first-degree murder case that will move through preliminary hearings this summer.

Case background in brief

David Anthony Burke, who performs as D4vd, was arrested in Los Angeles on April 16, 2026. He faces charges of first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and mutilation of human remains. Court records state the victim’s body was found the previous September inside the front trunk of a Tesla registered to him. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody without bail.

Prosecutors allege the relationship between Burke and the 14-year-old began when she was 13. They describe repeated contact through late 2024 and into 2025, even after an attempted break-up. The filing frames the case as one in which the victim’s threat to disclose the relationship supplied motive for the killing.

Investigators traced the timeline backward from the discovery of the remains. They matched vehicle ownership, garage traces, and device data to Burke. The April 29 brief presents those threads as a single narrative prosecutors intend to prove at trial.

Text messages and explicit images

Prosecutors cite hundreds of messages between the victim and Burke that reference sex, pregnancy, abortion, and use of emergency contraception. The filing states the exchanges continued after the reported November 2024 breakup. They also include photographs of the victim engaged in sexual activity at age 13.

Investigators recovered the messages from both the victim’s phone and Burke’s devices. The brief notes that the images were stored on Burke’s phone and that forensic teams have since extracted additional metadata showing when the pictures were taken and shared. Prosecutors argue the volume and content of the messages establish an ongoing sexual relationship with a minor.

Defense attorneys have not yet responded to the content of the messages in open court. The filing simply lists them as one category of evidence that will be introduced through digital forensic experts at the preliminary hearing.

Surveillance and vehicle records

Video from a residential security camera shows Burke as the last person seen driving the Tesla on April 23, 2025. Prosecutors state the victim was observed entering his home that same day and was never seen alive again. The footage places both individuals at the location hours before investigators believe the death occurred.

Cell-site records and key-fob logs place the same Tesla at Burke’s residence through the following week. Prosecutors say the vehicle did not leave the property again until after the date they allege the body was placed inside the trunk. The filing treats the vehicle movement as direct corroboration of the timeline derived from the messages.

Investigators later matched paint transfer and fiber evidence from the trunk liner to items recovered from Burke’s garage. Those matches appear in the same April 29 document and are listed as additional links between the car and the remains.

DNA and blood evidence

Blood stains found on the garage floor produced a DNA profile that matches the victim. The filing states the samples were collected weeks after the body was discovered and that the profile was confirmed through standard STR analysis. Prosecutors list the garage as one of three locations where physical evidence overlaps with the victim.

Additional swabs taken from the Tesla’s interior yielded trace amounts of the same profile. The brief notes that these samples were collected before the car was processed for fingerprints or other trace evidence. No other DNA profiles besides Burke’s and the victim’s are mentioned in the document.

The defense has reserved the right to challenge chain-of-custody questions at a later hearing. The April 29 filing presents the DNA results as one piece of a larger pattern rather than standalone proof.

Blue plastic fragments and pool purchase

Medical examiners recovered small blue plastic fragments from inside the victim’s remains. The filing states those fragments are consistent with material from an inflatable pool that Burke purchased online under a false name shortly after April 23, 2025. Investigators later located a matching pool model at a storage unit linked to Burke.

Prosecutors allege the pool was used to contain blood and tissue during dismemberment. The brief references photographs of the pool taken by investigators and notes that the victim’s ring and several finger bones were never recovered. The filing treats the purchase records as evidence of planning rather than spontaneous action.

Receipts for the pool, two chainsaws, a body bag, a shovel, and a portable incinerator unit were all obtained through the same online account. The document lists each item and the date it was shipped to an address associated with Burke.

Chainsaws and disposal tools

Two battery-powered chainsaws were delivered to the same account within ten days of the alleged killing. Prosecutors state the tools match the type used to dismember the body before it was placed in the Tesla. The filing includes shipping confirmations and credit-card records tied to the purchases.

Investigators also recovered a “burn cage” and plans for an incinerator from the same storage unit. The brief alleges these items were intended to destroy remaining evidence. No ash or bone fragments consistent with incineration have been reported in public filings so far.

The defense has not yet addressed the tool purchases in court. The April 29 document presents the receipts as part of a post-incident sequence that begins the day after the victim was last seen.

Digital material on devices

Forensic examination of Burke’s iPhone revealed what prosecutors describe as a significant amount of child sexual abuse material. The filing states the images and videos are still under review by digital forensic specialists. No exact count has been released publicly.

Additional data extracted from the phone includes location history, deleted message threads, and cloud-storage logs. Prosecutors say these records document repeated contact with the victim over many months. The brief lists the phone contents as corroborative rather than the primary evidence of the crimes charged.

Defense counsel has filed a motion to suppress some of the device data on Fourth Amendment grounds. That motion is scheduled to be heard before the preliminary hearing begins.

Financial and shipping trails

Prosecutors tracked purchases made under a pseudonym to the same credit card and delivery address used by Burke for legitimate music-related shipments earlier in 2025. The filing notes that the account name changed after April 23 but the billing information remained consistent. Investigators obtained the records through subpoenas to the retailers.

Shipping logs show the chainsaws and body bag arrived at a self-storage facility Burke had rented months earlier. The brief states the facility’s access logs place him at the unit on multiple dates in late April and early May 2025. Prosecutors treat the pattern of visits as evidence of concealment activity.

No cash withdrawals or third-party payments appear in the records cited. The document focuses on the traceable digital trail rather than unrecorded transactions.

Next steps in court

The preliminary hearing is set for late June 2026. Prosecutors have indicated they will call digital forensic analysts, the medical examiner, and surveillance technicians as early witnesses. The defense has signaled it will contest both the admissibility of the device data and the interpretation of the purchase records.

Additional discovery motions remain pending. Both sides have asked the court to limit pretrial publicity, citing the volume of graphic material already described in the April 29 filing. The judge has not yet ruled on those requests.

The case continues to draw attention because the defendant is a charting musician whose name trends whenever new documents are released. Observers on both sides expect the summer hearings to determine whether the evidence summarized in the filing will reach a jury.

Case outlook

The April 29 filing presents a sequence of records that prosecutors say connect D4vd to the victim, the location, and the steps taken afterward. Whether that sequence holds under cross-examination will shape the remainder of the proceedings. The next public updates are expected when the preliminary hearing opens in June.