SerpApi.Org
Prosecutors on Tuesday showed a body camera video with singer D4vd telling sheriff's deputies who were investigating a missing person's report that he had only met then-13-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez once in person, and he did not know she was a minor.
Prosecutors allege that D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, who was 18 at the time, had already been having a sexual relationship with the girl for several months, and that 14 months later, he stabbed her to death after she threatened to expose the relationship and ruin his career.
The video was shown on the first day of a hearing in Los Angeles County court to determine whether there is enough evidence to put Burke, now 21, on trial on charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains. He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer has said he did not cause the girl's death.
The preliminary hearing is expected to last about four days and resemble an abbreviated trial. There is no jury. Judge Charlaine Olmedo will decide whether the prosecution offered enough evidence to demonstrate probable cause to proceed to trial.
The defendant, who has been held without bail in a jail near the courthouse since his arrest, appeared in court in his jail clothes. The judge ruled that his hands could be uncuffed, but he must remain shackled to his chair. No cameras are allowed in the courtroom.
