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Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman faced the media on the first day of D4vd's preliminary hearing ... revealing prosecutors plan to call more than 10 witnesses -- and they still haven't decided whether to seek the death penalty.
The prelim began Tuesday morning in a downtown L.A. courtroom ... with prosecutors presenting evidence in an effort to convince a judge there's enough to warrant a murder trial in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas -- Hochman says he expects the prelim to last 5-7 days.
D4vd -- real name David Anthony Burke -- appeared alongside his attorneys as prosecutors began laying out evidence they claim ties him to Celeste's brutal death and mutilation.
As TMZ reported ... Celeste's parents arrived at court looking Tuesday somber and holding hands ... and once inside, the family refused to look away as prosecutors displayed gruesome photos of their late daughter's remains.
Prosecutors allege D4vd began a sexual relationship with Celeste when she was 13 -- and they claim he killed her after she threatened to expose him and destroy his rising music career.
Authorities claim D4vd lured Celeste to his Hollywood Hills house in April 2025, then stabbed her and dismembered her body with chainsaws ... before stuffing her remains in two bags that ended up inside the front trunk of his Tesla.
Celeste's decomposing remains were discovered months later -- after the Tesla was towed to a Hollywood impound lot and workers reported a foul odor.
D4vd was arrested in April and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains.
His attorneys deny he killed Celeste ... saying the evidence will ultimately clear him.
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