D4vd garage blood evidence refers to the forensic DNA findings presented during D4vd’s preliminary hearing, where an LAPD criminalist testified that blood recovered from four items inside his Hollywood Hills garage — a rubber mat, a green tarp, a Tesla charging plug, and a rowing machine — matched the genetic profile of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the teenager found dismembered in his car.

What makes this testimony stand out isn’t just the match itself, but the story the objects tell together. A charging plug, a workout machine, a tarp — ordinary household items that criminalist Samantha Tosch, an 18-year veteran of LAPD’s DNA unit, connected directly to a homicide through statistical certainty most people never see explained in plain language.

Beyond the headline finding, the evidence reveals layered forensic work: mixed DNA profiles from a trash bag, fracture-matched pool fragments, and a defense already probing gaps in how chainsaws were tested. This piece walks through every witness, every item, and what a preliminary hearing verdict could mean next.

Quick Summary — What You Need to Know

• Who testified: LAPD criminalist Samantha Tosch, an 18-year veteran of the department’s DNA and biological fluid analysis unit
• What was tested: A rubber garage mat, a green tarp, a Tesla charging plug, and a rowing machine
• What matched: All four items carried blood evidence consistent with the DNA profile of Celeste Rivas Hernandez
• Where it happened: The garage of D4vd’s rented Hollywood Hills home
• Case status: D4vd (real name David Anthony Burke) faces murder, sexual abuse, and mutilation charges; he has pleaded not guilty
• Hearing purpose: Judge is deciding whether there’s enough evidence to send the case to trial, not determining guilt

Who Is Celeste Rivas Hernandez?

Celeste Rivas Hernandez was a 14-year-old from Lake Elsinore, California. She had been reported missing as a runaway before her death. Her remains were discovered decomposed inside the front trunk of a Tesla vehicle registered to David Anthony Burke, in September 2025 — months after prosecutors say she was killed.

Her mother, Mercedes Martinez, has attended the hearing and was visibly emotional when a passport photo of her daughter was shown to the court. Coverage of this case has understandably focused heavily on the forensic details, but it’s worth remembering that at the center of this homicide case is a teenage victim whose family is seeking answers through the judicial process.

Who Is D4vd (David Anthony Burke)?

D4vd is the stage name of David Anthony Burke, an indie-pop singer known for a large online following built through platforms like TikTok and YouTube. His music and visuals often leaned on dark, alter-ego imagery, which became a point of public fascination once the case broke.

Burke, now 21, was arrested and arraigned on April 20, 2026, at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced the murder charges the same day. Burke has pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys have said they intend to mount a vigorous defense.

What Charges Does D4vd Face?

Burke is currently charged with three separate offenses. Here’s what each one means in plain language:

Charge	What Prosecutors Must Prove
First-degree murder	The killing was willful, deliberate, and premeditated
Continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14	A pattern of sexual abuse against a victim under the age of 14 over a period of time
Unlawful mutilation of human remains	The defendant unlawfully disfigured or dismembered a body

Prosecutors allege that Burke killed Rivas Hernandez on April 23, 2025 — the day after an argument reportedly tied to his involvement with other women — and that he dismembered her body using tools purchased online. A preliminary hearing brief obtained by reporters alleges Rivas Hernandez had threatened to disclose details of their relationship that could have derailed his music career, just as his debut album was about to release.

Inside the Preliminary Hearing: Timeline of Testimony

The preliminary hearing unfolded over multiple days in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, not a single session. Each day added a new layer of forensic testimony:

• Detectives described the discovery and condition of the remains
• A deputy medical examiner detailed the victim’s injuries
• Multiple LAPD criminalists walked the court through DNA and trace evidence collected from Burke’s home, garage, and Tesla
• The defense used cross-examination to probe gaps in the evidence-collection process

Burke appeared in court in an orange jumpsuit and dark-rimmed glasses throughout the proceedings. Rivas Hernandez’s parents were present when disturbing crime scene photos were shown on screen, a moment that underscored how personal this criminal trial remains for the family, even as it plays out as a national news story.

The DNA Evidence: What Criminalist Samantha Tosch Testified

The centerpiece of the July 23 session was testimony from Samantha Tosch, a forensic expert who has spent 18 years working in the LAPD crime lab’s DNA unit, specializing in biological fluid analysis. Her extensive background matters here — a criminalist with nearly two decades of casework carries significant weight when testifying about blood analysis and genetic evidence in a homicide prosecution.

Items Tested and Matched to Celeste Rivas Hernandez

Tosch testified that blood recovered from four separate items inside the garage was consistent with the DNA profile of Celeste Rivas Hernandez:

1. A black rubber floor mat
2. A green tarp
3. A Tesla charging plug
4. A rowing machine

These items were all located inside the garage of Burke’s Hollywood Hills residence — the same space prosecutors allege was used as the location where Rivas Hernandez was killed and later dismembered.

What “Consistent With” Actually Means in Forensic DNA Testing

If you’ve seen the phrase “statistically strong match” in crime coverage and wondered what it actually means, here’s the short version: forensic DNA analysts don’t claim 100% certainty in the way people often assume. Instead, they calculate the statistical probability that a DNA profile recovered from evidence belongs to a specific person versus a random member of the population.

When a criminalist testifies that a sample is “consistent with” or a “statistically strong match” to a known individual, they are saying the genetic markers align so closely that the odds of it belonging to someone else are extraordinarily small — often in the billions or higher, depending on the number of markers tested. This is standard language in crime lab reporting and is central to how prosecutors build a case using biological evidence.

The Trash Bag Evidence and Mixed DNA Profile

Beyond the garage surfaces, Tosch also testified about a double-bagged trash bag recovered from the same location. This piece of evidence is more complex than a single-source match, and it’s a detail the wider coverage of this case has largely glossed over.

• The outer bag contained a DNA mixture from four different contributors, including Burke himself
• The inner bag contained wipes with brown stains consistent with Rivas Hernandez’s DNA profile, but not Burke’s

Why this matters: Mixed-contributor DNA samples are common in real-world crime scene investigation work, but they require more sophisticated statistical analysis than a single-source sample. A mixture doesn’t automatically implicate everyone whose DNA appears in it — investigators and prosecutors have to establish how and why each contributor’s genetic material could plausibly have ended up there. The defense is likely to lean on this complexity later in the case.

The Inflatable Pool Fragment Evidence

A second LAPD criminalist, Lisa LaHendro, testified separately about physical trace evidence tying back to the crime scene. She told the court that blue plastic fragments recovered by the county medical examiner’s office from the victim’s recovered remains matched pieces missing from an inflatable pool found at Burke’s home.

Prosecutors allege the pool was one of several items — purchased online in the weeks before the killing — used in the process of dismembering the victim’s body. LaHendro also described the condition of the clothing Rivas Hernandez was wearing at the time her body was found: heavily soiled, saturated, and deteriorated, consistent with extended exposure inside the vehicle before discovery.

This kind of physical-fit evidence, sometimes called “fracture matching,” is a well-established forensic technique used to connect torn or broken materials to their original source — similar to matching a broken tool fragment left at a scene to the rest of the tool.

The Defense’s Cross-Examination Strategy

Burke’s defense attorney, Blair Berk, used her cross-examination time to raise pointed questions about the LAPD’s evidence collection decisions — an early signal of what the defense may argue if this case reaches trial.

The Chainsaw Question

Two small chainsaws were recovered from Burke’s garage. According to testimony from a third criminalist, Lauren Wallace, initial chemical testing showed no visible signs of blood on the saws. Because of that negative result, investigators did not swab the handles for “touch DNA” — biological material left behind simply from someone gripping an object.

Berk pressed this point directly:

“If an item has somebody else’s DNA on it, you wouldn’t be able to see that at the time,” Berk noted, to which Wallace agreed that touch DNA isn’t visible during initial on-scene testing — even though the blades themselves tested negative for blood.

LAPD Detective Byers pushed back on the broader implication, testifying that if the chainsaws had actually been used to dismember a body, “there would be no way they couldn’t have blood” on them.

What This Signals for Trial Strategy

Legal analyst David Ring told reporters that this line of questioning could become central to the defense’s approach: if Berk can show that evidence was collected incompletely or handled improperly, it may be enough to create reasonable doubt in the mind of even a single juror. This is a common and legitimate defense strategy in cases built heavily on forensic evidence — attacking the collection process, not just the results.

What a Preliminary Hearing Actually Decides

A lot of readers searching this topic assume a preliminary hearing determines guilt or innocence. It doesn’t. Here’s the distinction that matters:

Preliminary Hearing	Criminal Trial
Judge decides if there’s probable cause	Jury decides guilt beyond a reasonable doubt
No jury present	Full jury trial
Lower evidentiary threshold	Highest standard in the U.S. legal system
Defense cross-examines but doesn’t present a full case	Both sides present complete cases
Outcome: case is “bound over” for trial, reduced, or dismissed	Outcome: verdict (guilty, not guilty, or hung jury)

In other words, this hearing is a screening process. The judge is only determining whether the prosecution’s evidence is strong enough to justify moving forward to a full murder trial — a much lower bar than what prosecutors will eventually need to clear in front of a jury.

What’s Next in the D4vd Case?

As of this hearing, Burke remains in custody, has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his legal team has indicated they will contest the prosecution’s evidence and its collection at every stage. Given the multi-day nature of the preliminary hearing and the volume of forensic testimony presented, a ruling on whether the case proceeds to trial is expected once all witnesses have been heard.

This remains an active, developing criminal case, and readers following along should expect additional courtroom testimony, possible pretrial motions from the defense regarding evidence handling, and eventually a trial date if the judge finds sufficient cause.

Key Takeaways

• Blood found on four items in D4vd’s garage — a mat, tarp, Tesla charger, and rowing machine — matched the DNA profile of Celeste Rivas Hernandez
• Testimony came from LAPD criminalist Samantha Tosch, a nearly two-decade veteran of the department’s DNA unit
• A trash bag at the scene contained a mixed DNA profile from four contributors, including Burke, alongside wipes matching the victim
• Separate testimony tied inflatable pool fragments recovered from the remains to a damaged pool at Burke’s home
• The defense is focusing on gaps in evidence collection, particularly around chainsaws that tested negative for visible blood
• A preliminary hearing determines probable cause, not guilt — the legal bar is far lower than a criminal trial

Conclusion

The D4vd garage blood evidence ties four ordinary items to a teenage victim through solid forensic science. A rubber mat, a tarp, a Tesla charger, and a rowing machine all carried DNA matching Celeste Rivas Hernandez. This testimony builds the core of the prosecution’s case, while the defense is already questioning how some evidence, like the chainsaws, was handled.

This hearing isn’t the trial itself. It’s the step that decides if enough proof exists to move forward. The D4vd garage blood evidence shows how forensic teams turn small physical traces into strong legal arguments. As the case continues, this testimony will likely remain a central point both sides return to in court.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did the LAPD criminalist say about blood found in D4vd’s garage?

Criminalist Samantha Tosch testified that blood on a rubber floor mat, a green tarp, a Tesla charging plug, and a rowing machine inside the garage was consistent with the DNA profile of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

What is D4vd’s real name?

D4vd’s legal name is David Anthony Burke. He is 21 years old and was known publicly as an indie-pop singer before his arrest.

What charges does D4vd face?

Burke faces first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains.

How was Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s body discovered?

Her decomposed remains were found in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke in September 2025, roughly five months after prosecutors say she was killed.

What is a preliminary hearing, and how is it different from a trial?

A preliminary hearing is where a judge decides if there’s enough evidence (probable cause) for a case to proceed to trial. It does not determine guilt. A trial requires the higher standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, decided by a jury.

Has D4vd pleaded guilty or not guilty?

Burke has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his attorneys have said they plan to vigorously contest the case.

Why didn’t investigators test the chainsaws for touch DNA?

Initial on-scene chemical testing showed no visible blood on the chainsaw blades, so investigators did not swab the handles for touch DNA at that time. The defense has questioned this decision as a gap in the evidence-collection process.