Gruesome images of a teenage girl’s dismembered corpse have been shown in court before her horrified parents on the opening day of a preliminary hearing in the murder case against the singer who performs under the stage name D4vd.
Prosecutors presented graphic crime scene photos showing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s body when it was found last year inside a Tesla registered to singer David Anthony Burke in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
A homicide detective testified that Burke, 21, had ordered a body bag, chainsaws, an inflatable pool and a shovel online in the days after Celeste’s death.
Burke has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering and sexually abusing the girl.
The grisly details had previously only been described in court filings. Tuesday’s hearing marked the first time that the evidence and photographs were shown publicly in court.
Although this is not the trial itself, prosecutors are laying out the evidence they say links Burke to Celeste’s death as they seek to convince the judge there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial.
Prosecutors say Burke stabbed Celeste before dismembering her body with a chainsaw to conceal the killing after years of alleged sexual abuse.
They allege he killed her because she had threatened to reveal his relationship with a minor and destroy his multi-million dollar music career.
For Celeste’s parents, it was an ordeal they had prepared themselves for but could never fully anticipate, according to their lawyer.
“This is the first time they’ve heard this evidence in detail, and they’re horrified,” the family’s attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, told the BBC after the court hearing.
“There was an image of Celeste’s torso and her head in the trunk of the car, and the prosecutor had to ask what it was because you could not tell it was a head. It was absolutely deplorable.
“They’re at a loss for words and they’re just trying to do the best they can.”