Overview
- Los Angeles prosecutors, in a filing made Wednesday, outlined evidence they plan to present at a May preliminary hearing in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
- Investigators say texts show a heated argument on April 22, 2025, and that David Anthony Burke sent an Uber on April 23 to bring Celeste to his Hollywood Hills home, where they allege he stabbed her and later texted her to stage concern.
- The brief says Burke bought two chainsaws under the alias “Victoria Mendez,” a body bag, heavy-duty bags, a shovel, and a blue inflatable pool, then dismembered the body in the pool; blue plastic fragments embedded in the remains matched the pool and her DNA was found in his garage.
- Prosecutors say he tried to destroy or dump evidence in Santa Barbara County, where Celeste’s passport was found in January 2026, and that her dismembered remains were discovered on September 8, 2025, in bags inside the front trunk of his Tesla at a Hollywood tow lot.
- Burke, 21, has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed without bail on charges of first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child, and mutilation, with special circumstances that make the case death-eligible; a five-day preliminary hearing is set to start May 26.