The parents of Celeste Rivas did not flinch Tuesday when photos of their daughter’s dismembered body were shown at a court hearing held to determine whether David Anthony Burke, known as the singer D4vd, would stand trial for murdering the teen, according to reports.
Prosecutor Beth Silverman, Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County, warned Celeste’s parents, Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez, of what was to come, TMZ reported.
At one point, she appeared to mouth, “Are you OK?” toward them as the photos were displayed and Det. Josh Byers of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division testified about the gruesome find.
Rivas and Martinez were steadfast as photos displaying the limbs that had been stowed in a black cadaver bag, and the bag containing their daughter’s head and torso, TMZ reported.
At one point Martinez bowed her head and averted her eyes, but Rivas did not look away except to check on his wife, according to Rolling Stone.
Burke, 21, is accused of stabbing Celeste to death when she was 14 and he was 18, lying in wait for her at his home and killing her to keep her from revealing their relationship, which had begun when she was 13. The up-and-coming music star did not want the exposure to derail his career, prosecutors allege.
Celeste’s family reported her missing several times between 2023 and September 2025, when her remains were found in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke that was languishing in a Hollywood impound lot.
Investigators said she’d been dismembered with a chain saw. A months-long investigation ensued, culminating in Burke’s arrest in April and charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains, and special circumstances including murder of a witness, murder for financial gain and lying in wait, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement at the time.
Burke has denied all charges and pleaded not guilty.
The hearing is expected to last four or five days, after which Judge Charlaine Olmedo will decide whether the prosecution has met the probable-cause requirement for a trial.
With News Wire Services