Los Angeles — The parents of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez left the courtroom Thursday before a medical examiner began detailing the graphic findings of their daughter’s autopsy during the preliminary hearing for singer D4vd.

Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez had attended most of the day’s proceedings in the case against David Burke, known professionally as D4vd, who is accused of murdering and dismembering the teen. Just before Deputy Medical Examiner Grant Ho took the stand, the parents exited the room. Their attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, remained.

Ho testified that Celeste’s body weighed only 71 pounds at the time of the autopsy and was “markedly decomposed,” with trauma especially to the extremities. Her braces were also noted during the examination.

Earlier in the multi-day preliminary hearing, which began July 21, prosecutors displayed graphic crime-scene photos of Celeste’s dismembered remains, found in September 2025 inside the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke. The parents watched those images in the front row and were later seen crying in the courthouse hallway.

Burke, 21, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder with special circumstances, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains. Prosecutors allege he stabbed Celeste in April 2025 after she threatened to expose their relationship and then dismembered her body.

Steinfeld described the experience as the family’s “worst nightmare,” saying the parents wanted to show strength for their daughter but found the evidence extremely difficult. Testimony from the medical examiner is expected to continue.

Sources:

• NewYorkPost