When Dr. Grant Ho took the witness stand in a Los Angeles courtroom, the room shifted. For days, prosecutors built a narrative around indie singer D4vd—legal name David Anthony Burke—alleging he sexually abused 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez and killed her to protect his rising career. But forensic testimony cuts through rhetoric. It forces everyone to look directly at physical evidence.
The preliminary hearing determines if Burke will stand trial on charges including murder, sexual abuse of a child, and mutilation of remains. Dr. Ho, a medical examiner with the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, detailed the physical reality of how Rivas Hernandez died. The testimony was grueling, direct, and laid bare the immense challenge forensic experts face when dealing with severely degraded evidence. For another look, check out: this related article.
The Medical Examiner Findings on the Cause of Death
Dr. Ho confirmed that Rivas Hernandez died from two sharp force penetrating wounds to her upper body, ruling the death a homicide. One stab wound penetrated her abdomen and punctured her liver. A second wound to her left chest damaged her ribs.
Ho explained that injuries of this nature would cause fatal internal bleeding. When questioned by Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman about how long it would take someone to die from those wounds, Ho estimated it would take at least several minutes for fatal blood loss to occur. He acknowledged under questioning that it could potentially take longer, though he declined to commit to a specific maximum timeframe. Prosecutors contend Burke sat by and watched her bleed out after inflicting the injuries. Similar coverage regarding this has been published by TIME.
The condition of the remains complicated nearly every aspect of the examination. Authorities discovered the body inside plastic bags in the trunk of a towed Tesla in September 2025, months after she was last seen alive in April 2025. The body was severely decomposed and dismembered. Because of that degradation, establishing a precise time of death proved impossible.
"It's extremely difficult to tell," Ho told the court when asked about the timeline. He could only state with certainty that she had been dead for at least weeks, though months was entirely consistent with the physical decay. Rivas Hernandez's body was found just one day after what would have been her 15th birthday.
Defense Strategy Targets Gaps in Forensic Certainty
Preliminary hearings aren't full trials, but they show you exactly where the defense intends to dig in. Defense attorney Marilyn Bednarski focused her cross-examination on what the autopsy could not establish.
When examining a body in advanced stages of decomposition, many subtle injuries or underlying toxicological factors disappear. Bednarski aggressively probed those blind spots.
Toxicology Limitations and Conclusive Doubts
The toxicological review presented a major battleground. Because the body lacked usable blood samples due to decomposition, toxicology tests had to be performed on liver tissue instead.
- Alcohol levels: Tests detected a low concentration of alcohol. Ho noted this was likely produced naturally after death by bacterial activity during decomposition rather than ingestion.
- Benzodiazepines: Initial screening returned a positive flag for benzodiazepines, but secondary confirmatory testing ruled it negative.
- Methamphetamine: Screening suggested potential methamphetamine presence, but final results were inconclusive.
Ho explicitly testified that he could not state methamphetamine played any role in her death. Bednarski asked whether decomposition interferes with toxicological accuracy, and Ho agreed that it can. The defense used this to float alternative theories, suggesting the possibility of an accidental overdose or self-inflicted harm before death.
Questions Surrounding Struggle and Weapon Control
The defense also questioned whether the physical marks could establish how the confrontation happened. Ho acknowledged he could not determine if a physical struggle took place prior to the stabbing.
When Bednarski asked directly whether he could rule out that the victim was holding the instrument that caused the wounds herself, Ho conceded he could not rule it out purely from the physical evidence available.
Bednarski further pointed out that investigators never conducted interviews with friends or family regarding the victim's mental health history, potential drug use, or behavioral history prior to her disappearance. Ho agreed such context can sometimes assist in autopsy evaluations, though no such background conversations took place in this instance.
How the Autopsy Fits Into the Broader Prosecution Case
An autopsy report rarely exists in a vacuum during a capital murder investigation. Prosecutors are trying to connect the medical examiner's physical findings with digital, chemical, and physical evidence gathered across multiple scenes.
DNA Evidence in the Garage
Just before Dr. Ho's testimony, police forensic experts detailed evidence found in the garage of Burke's Hollywood Hills home.
Criminalists used chemical reagents to reveal blood stains that were invisible to the naked eye. Photos presented in court showed rubber garage mats glowing bright blue under chemical light. DNA analyst Sarah Tosch testified that samples pulled from those hidden garage stains matched Rivas Hernandez's DNA profile.
Prosecutors allege Burke killed the teen inside his home, dismembered her body in the garage using power tools, and placed her remains into heavy bags before storing them in his vehicle. They allege he purchased chainsaws, shovels, cleaning products, and a burn cage under aliases shortly after her disappearance.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Blair Berk pressed the DNA analyst on whether the chemical tests definitively proved the glowing spots were blood. Tosch conceded she could not state with absolute certainty that the profile came from blood rather than touch DNA, nor could she determine when the genetic material was deposited on the surface.
Text Messages and Motive
Prosecutors argue the motive stems from Burke's fear of exposure. They allege the relationship began when Rivas Hernandez was 13 and Burke was 18. Text messages shown in court revealed that in early 2024, Rivas Hernandez became pregnant and had an abortion. Messages showed Burke apologizing for "putting her through this".
According to court filings, prosecutors claim Rivas Hernandez threatened to go public with their long sexual relationship, which would have ended Burke's burgeoning career in the music industry. They argue he enticed her to his home in late April 2025 before carrying out the killing.
What Happens Next in the Preliminary Hearing
The preliminary hearing serves as a judicial filter. The judge does not decide guilt or innocence beyond a reasonable doubt at this stage. Instead, the magistrate decides whether prosecutors have presented sufficient probable cause to hold Burke for a full criminal trial.
If the judge finds probable cause:
- Formal Arraignment: Burke will be formally arraigned in Superior Court on the trial court level.
- Plea and Motions: Defense attorneys will likely file motions to suppress specific pieces of digital and forensic evidence.
- Special Circumstances Determination: The District Attorney's office will finalize whether they intend to pursue the death penalty or life without parole, given the special circumstance allegations of murder involving witness killing and sexual abuse.
The physical evidence presented by Dr. Ho highlights the steep mountain both sides have to climb. Prosecutors must convince a jury that severe decomposition doesn't hide the obvious signs of a brutal homicide. Defense lawyers will continue picking at every forensic uncertainty to build reasonable doubt. The judge's ruling on whether this moves to a jury trial is expected once remaining witness testimony concludes.
