D4vd lawyer presses medical examiner on teen’s fatal wounds
David Anthony Burke’s defense questioned whether Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s wounds proved homicide as prosecutors outlined DNA and travel evidence.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
4 min read
The d4vd medical examiner testimony turned into a preview of the defense fight in David Anthony Burke’s murder case, as his lawyer questioned whether autopsy findings alone could prove who caused 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s fatal injuries.
Marilyn Bednarski, an attorney for Burke, questioned Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Grant Ho for more than an hour during the preliminary hearing. Ho performed Rivas’ autopsy and said his office ruled her death a homicide caused by “multiple penetrating injuries.”
Bednarski asked whether information about a victim’s background, including possible suicidal history, drug use or violence, could affect a medical examiner’s decision on manner of death. Ho said such information could potentially matter, and said he did not speak with Rivas’ family before the homicide ruling was made.
What did the medical examiner say in the D4vd case?
Ho testified that Rivas had two penetrating wounds: one in her abdomen that was about 1.5 inches deep and reached her liver, and another on the left side of her chest that was about two inches deep, entered near her lung and damaged the surface of a nearby rib. He said he could not determine who was holding the instrument that caused the wounds.
When Bednarski asked whether Rivas could have been holding the instrument herself, Ho said that was a consideration, but added that he would expect to see hesitation marks, meaning shallow injuries near a deeper wound. He also said he could not determine the circumstances of the wounds, whether Rivas’ body was moving toward the instrument, or how fast it may have been moving.
Prosecutors have alleged Burke stabbed Rivas to death inside his Hollywood Hills rental on April 23, 2025, after she threatened to expose a sexual relationship while she was underage. They also allege he later dismembered her body in the garage, possibly weeks after her death.
Ho testified that the lower liver wound was consistent with a stab wound to the stomach. Asked about prosecutors’ claim that a chainsaw was used to dismember Rivas, Ho said cutting through bone would require a power tool. He also testified that Rivas could have bled to death within minutes, though he said it could potentially have taken hours.
Rivas’ badly decomposed remains were found Sept. 8, 2025, split between two black vinyl and plastic bags in the front trunk of Burke’s Tesla, according to testimony. Burke has pleaded not guilty to murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains. His lawyers say he did not kill Rivas or cause her death.
What other evidence has been raised?
Los Angeles police criminalist Samantha Tosch testified that Burke’s DNA was included in a mixture on an outer trash bag recovered from his garage. She said an inner bag held stained wipes that tested presumptively positive for blood, and that DNA on one wipe was three trillion times more likely to have come from Rivas than from an unknown person. Burke’s DNA was not detected on that wipe.
Tosch also testified that Rivas’ DNA was found on items in the garage, including a rowing machine, a black rubber floor mat, a Tesla charger and a green tarp, as well as in a rear compartment of Burke’s Tesla. Under cross-examination, she acknowledged DNA can be transferred without direct contact, while maintaining her professional opinion that Burke’s DNA was on the trash bag.
Other criminalists testified about blue material found with Rivas’ remains that aligned with holes in an inflatable pool in Burke’s garage, and about strong Bluestar reactions on garage floor mats and bricks beneath them. Investigators did not collect two chainsaws from the garage or an electric saw upstairs because they tested negative for possible blood and were not deemed forensically valuable, according to testimony.
Detective William Roecker testified that cell-tower records for Burke’s phone and Tesla modem showed the phone and car traveling together to a remote Santa Barbara County area three times after the alleged killing. A transit worker later found Rivas’ passport card near that area, according to testimony.
At the end of the preliminary hearing, a judge will decide whether prosecutors have presented enough evidence to send the case to trial. If convicted as charged, Burke faces life without parole or the death penalty, though prosecutors have not said whether they will seek a death sentence.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.