Overview
- A Los Angeles Superior Court judge found probable cause after a five‑day preliminary hearing in which more than 10 witnesses testified and prosecutors introduced physical and digital evidence.
- David Anthony Burke, known as d4vd, is charged with homicide with special circumstances, continuous sexual abuse of a minor and mutilation of a body and has pleaded not guilty.
- Prosecutors presented crime‑scene photographs, forensic analyses, cell‑phone location records and hundreds of text messages they say show a relationship with the 14‑year‑old victim and a possible motive to silence her.
- Defense lawyers challenged how evidence was collected and preserved, pointed to missing or unpreserved items such as one reportedly unrecovered chainsaw, questioned chain‑of‑custody and argued DNA results could reflect secondary transfer.
- The judge ordered Burke held without bail and set a reading of charges for August 31 while the exact trial date will be set later, a process likely to include pretrial fights over evidence and possible prosecutors' consideration of the death penalty.