D4vd pleads not guilty to murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez after prosecutors present overwhelming evidence at preliminary hearing.
D4vd faces a courtroom reckoning after entering a not guilty plea to first-degree murder charges in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
The 21-year-old singer’s legal team is mounting a defense against allegations that prosecutors say are backed by overwhelming forensic and digital evidence presented during a five-day preliminary hearing that concluded with a judge ordering him to stand trial.
The case centers on Celeste’s remains, which were discovered dismembered in the trunk of D4vd’s Tesla in a Hollywood tow yard last September, months after she vanished from his Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025.
Prosecutors allege he killed her to protect his music career after she threatened to expose their years-long sexual relationship and destroy his lucrative recording contract.
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The evidence prosecutors laid out includes DNA analysis, cell phone records, and autopsy findings showing multiple penetrating wounds consistent with stabbing.
Text messages presented in court reveal Celeste’s escalating threats the night before her death.
“I will end ur career and ur life I will damage anything,” she wrote, according to KTLA.
Prosecutors argue this motive, combined with the timing of her death occurring the same day his world tour tickets went on pre-sale, establishes financial gain as the driving force behind the alleged murder.
The prosecution’s case includes evidence that D4vd ordered chainsaws, body bags, and other equipment to his residence in the days following April 23.
While chainsaws recovered from his garage tested negative for blood, investigators were unable to locate a third 10-inch Makita chainsaw they believe he also purchased.
The strength of the evidence makes a plea deal unlikely, with former federal prosecutors noting that the combination of sexual abuse allegations, pregnancy evidence, and the alleged dismemberment creates an almost impossible negotiating position for the defense.
D4vd’s arraignment is scheduled for August 31, 2026, with trial to begin within 90 days of that date.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office has not yet decided whether to pursue capital punishment, though the special circumstances allegations, including lying in wait and murder for financial gain, make him potentially eligible for the death penalty.
His defense team continues to argue insufficient evidence, pointing to the lack of surveillance footage placing him at home on the night in question and the medical examiner’s inability to definitively establish the exact cause of death from the severely decomposed remains.