Overview
- The multi‑day preliminary hearing is set to begin Tuesday, July 21, 2026, and prosecutors will call witnesses and present evidence to ask a judge to bind the case over for trial.
- Prosecutors allege Burke began a sexual relationship with Celeste Rivas Hernandez when she was 13 and say they will show photographs that the prosecution describes as child sexual abuse material.
- Investigators recovered Rivas Hernandez’s remains in two bags inside the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke after the car was impounded on September 8, 2025, and prosecutors say surveillance and rideshare records place the victim at Burke’s home the night she disappeared.
- The prosecution’s expected case includes text messages in which the victim allegedly threatened to expose Burke, purchases prosecutors say were used to dismember and dispose of the body, and forensic links tying the victim’s DNA to some items.
- Burke, who has pleaded not guilty, has asked the judge to remove his restraints for the hearing and the case has been slowed by large volumes of digital discovery and separate probes into possible unauthorized access to medical examiner records.