Family of Celeste Rivas Hernandez call for death penalty in murder trial of singer D4vd, and sue him for

The family of Celeste Rivas Hernandez has called for D4vd to face the death penalty and is suing the singer for wrongful death.

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D4vd (real name David Anthony Burke) has been accused by prosecutors of killing teenager Hernandez and dismembering her body with a chainsaw in his garage after buying tools online.

In April, he was charged with her murder.

He pleaded not guilty to the murder charges in a Los Angeles court late last month. Burke had previously pleaded not guilty to murdering and sexually abusing the teen, whose remains had been found severely decomposed in the front boot of a Tesla registered in his name last autumn.

In a statement published on Monday (September 7), which would have been Hernandez’s 16th birthday, the victim’s family demanded that Burke face execution over his alleged crimes.

Hernandez’s family said in a separate statement that they were “reliving unforgettable moments even though she is no longer here” and “experiencing so many emotions”.

The family are also suing Burke for wrongful death, and accusing his mother and managers of negligence (per Rolling Stone).

Burke is accused of wrongful death as well as battery, sexual battery, childhood sexual assault, assault, false imprisonment, human trafficking and intentional infliction of emotional distress in the new lawsuit.

Family members of a 14-year-old girl whom the recording artist known as D4vd is charged with fatally stabbing and dismembering have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the singer and ‌some of his associates, news media outlets reported https://t.co/NaDsrZcDzD.

The complaint alleges that Burke engaged in human trafficking of Hernandez, too, by causing or inducing her “to engage in commercial sex acts”.

The lawsuit cites Burke’s publishing and merchandising companies as other defendants, claiming that they were the vehicles that funded the alleged abuse. The singer’s managers – Josh Marshall and Robert Morgenroth – are named as co-defendants, along with their company Mogul Vision.

Burke’s live-in security guard, Sheldon Jacques, is also named. He allegedly drove the artist to collect Hernandez from her parents’ house before they first reported her missing in February 2024.

D4vd’s mother, Colleen Burke, served as his personal financial manager. She was a signatory on his accounts, approved and paid his bills, and “controlled the flow of the enterprise’s funds”, according to the suit.

All co-defendants named in the new lawsuit have been accused of negligence in failing to protect a minor.

The suit says that the defendants allegedly “knew or should have known of Burke’s dangerous propensities toward and sexual exploitation of [Rivas Hernandez], a minor, and failed to take reasonable steps to protect her, to supervise Burke, or to prevent the continued abuse.”.

Hernandez’s parents are seeking unspecified damages, which will be determined by a jury trial. The co-defendants have not yet responded to the claims, at the time of writing.

Following a five-day preliminary hearing in July, where prosecutors questioned a dozen witnesses and displayed photographic evidence as the teenager’s family attended court, a judge ruled that Burke would go on trial for the murder.

Burke’s high-profile lawyers, Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter, later confirmed that they would no longer be representing the singer.

A lawyer from the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office is now representing Burke, the statement from the lawyers clarified, and they added that they would “continue to support David and his defence against these serious charges”.

During the opening day of a preliminary hearing this summer, the court was shown graphic and distressing photographs relating to the case, while Hernandez’s parents were in attendance at the hearing.

On that day, a homicide detective testified that Burke had purchased a body bag, chainsaws, an inflatable pool and a shovel online in the days after the victim’s death.

Prosecutors alleged that Burke stabbed Hernandez before dismembering her body with a chainsaw to cover up the murder following years of alleged sexual abuse. It is alleged that he killed the teenager because she had threatened to speak out about his relationship with a minor and ruin his music career.

He has denied the charges, and told police that he did not know Hernandez was a minor. He also claimed to have only met the then-13-year-old once in person.

On the second day of the hearing, it was heard that at least 11 air fresheners were found in D4vd’s Tesla alongside the human remains of the 14-year-old. Burke’s DNA was also found on rubbish bags related to the case.

Text messages between D4vd and Hernandez were read out as well, indicating that she was pregnant and had an abortion more than a year before she was killed.

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