Singer D4vd remained stoic as gruesome images of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez's severed remains were displayed in court on Tuesday.The singer, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains in connection with Hernandez's brutal slaying.His attorneys have maintained that the now 21-year-old did not cause the young girl's death, even though her remains were found in the front trunk of his Tesla.Disturbing images displayed in court on Tuesday showed Hernandez's bloody head and torso inside a body bag in the trunk, as well as her severed arms and legs in a garbage bag underneath it, PEOPLE reports.The sight caused at least one member of Hernandez's family to cry in the courtroom as Detective Joshua Byers described in gruesome detail what he had witnessed on September 8, according to CBS News. Assistant District Attorney Beth Silverman was also seen turning to the victim's parents, who were seated in the front row for Burke's preliminary hearing, and appeared to mouth: 'Are you OK?'Then, during a break in the hearing, Silverman checked in with Hernandez's family and tried to comfort them.But Burke, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, showed no visible emotion as he stared intently at each photo. He seemed particularly interested in a photo of the teenager's right hand, which showed the phrase 'Shh...' tattooed on her index finger. Burke has matching ink. Singer D4vd remained stoic as gruesome images of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez's severed remains were displayed in court on Tuesday The singer, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, 21, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder , continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains Prosecutors claim he knew Celeste Rivas Hernandez, 14 (pictured) was underage and pursued a relationship with her - then killed her when she threatened to go public Prosecutors have claimed Burke had been in a relationship with the minor - and stabbed her to death after she threatened to expose the relationship and ruin his career ahead of the release of his first album. He was 18 at the time.Hernandez had been reported missing multiple times in the years before her death, and prosecutors said in a court filing they have evidence she was with Burke for long stretches, including on a trip to Texas where she met his family. Prosecutors have also said they have sexual text messages and photos the two exchanged.In a nine-page preliminary trial brief filed in April, the prosecution laid out how Burke allegedly sent a car to pick Hernandez up on the night of April 23, 2025, from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, California, some 80 miles outside of Los Angeles. The two exchanged messages until she arrived at his Hollywood home, after which her phone went dead.'Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened, very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out,' the document said.Prosecutors said they have records showing Burke ordered chain saws he used to dismember her body in his garage, and that her DNA was found there on blood stains discovered when police served a search warrant. Byers testified that Burke ordered a body bag on Amazon using an alias but with his own card and address.Blue fragments were clearly visible on the body in the photos shown in court - and prosecutors said they will prove they are from an inflatable pool Burke used 'to prevent her blood from spilling onto his garage floor.' Burke's attorneys have maintained that the now 21-year-old did not cause the young girl's death, even though her remains were found in the front trunk of his Tesla He was said to be particularly interested in a photo of the teenager's right hand, which showed the phrase 'Shh...' tattooed on her index finger. Burke has matching ink (pictured)By the time Byers was called to an impound lot in Hollywood on September 8, he said he found insects, maggots and flies surrounding a partially unzipped black vinyl body bag and a garbage bag with blue straps, the Los Angeles Times reports. Her body was also so badly decomposed that her face was 'unrecognizable,' Byers testified. His testimony marked the first time Hernandez's family heard the details about how her remains were found, family attorney Patrick Steinfeld told the BBC, describing how they were 'horrified.' 'There was an image of Celeste's torso and her head in the trunk of the car, and the prosecutor had to ask what it was because you could not tell it was a head,' he said. 'It was absolutely deplorable.'The attorney said he told Hernandez's parents they did not have to be in the courtroom for the hearing because they would not be able to 'unsee' the gruesome images, but her mother said, 'I want to be here to show support for Celeste.''She just put her head down and started crying,' Steinfeld recounted, saying that the family is 'at a loss for words and just trying to do the best they can.''They're an extremely private family,' he noted. 'It's a parent's worst nightmare.'Days after the remains were found inside the vehicle, Hernandez's father, Jesus Rivas, contacted police expressing his fear that the remains were those of his daughter, Byers said.The worried father then provided investigators with the name of the teen's dentist, whose records ultimately helped the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identify her remains, according to Los Angeles Magazine.The Tesla SUV, where police say Rivas Hernandez's body was discovered on September 8The police had already been looking into Burke as a suspect at that time, after learning that the Tesla was registered to him.An ensuing investigation later determined Burke first met Hernandez in January 2021, when she was just 11 years old.The two then allegedly began a sexual relationship in November 2023 when Rivas Hernandez was 13 and Burke was 18.The teenager's mother, who reported her missing three different times that same year, had said her daughter was dating a guy she had never met, named David.But Burke denied to deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff's Office that he knew Rivas Hernandez was a minor when he was first asked about her disappearance on February 17, 2024.He told the deputies how he met Hernandez through social media and Discord and met her only once in person at that time, in November 2023.Burke also insisted he believed she was 18 because 'she told me she was 18,' LA County Sheriff's Senior Deputy Juan Gonzalez testified on Tuesday.The deputy described how Burke had been extremely cooperative with authorities that day and allowed him to search the house, where deputies found no signs of Hernandez.Body-worn camera footage of the interaction showed the mood was friendly and jovial among the three, and one of the deputies says 'Ohhh, that´s pretty cool, good for you,' when Burke described his music career.The artist then shared Rivas Hernandez's phone number with them and showed them photos from his phone of a yearbook picture of her and a missing person's flyer. The singer's defense asserts he was telling the truth to deputies that day, but during redirect, Silverman asked Gonzalez point blank whether Burke shared anything about his sexual relationship with the victim, LA Magazine reports.The question, though, was promptly met with a sustained objection and Gonzalez was allowed to step down from the stand. A member of Hernandez's family (pictured) cried out in the courtroom as gruesome images were shown of her remains were shownWhen Hernandez later returned home, her family took her phone away.But prosecutors say Burke continued to pursue her - even paying a junior high school student in her class $1,000 so that the classmate could get a phone for Rivas Hernandez.'Throughout 2024, the victim spent a significant amount of time with defendant, including summer weekends at his home in the Hollywood Hills and traveling with him to Las Vegas, London, and Texas to meet his family,' they alleged.'Text exchanges between the victim and defendant contain references to sex, pregnancy, abortion and use of the Plan B emergency contraceptive.'Prosecutors further alleged that they broke up in November 2024, but they continued to communicate.After they then broke up again last April, the teenager became jealous over Burke's relationship with other women, the preliminary trial brief claims.Rivas Hernandez then 'threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life,' the documents state.At that time, prosecutors say, Burke was set to release his first solo album and had a multimillion-dollar career at stake.With that allegedly on his mind, Burke sent an Uber to pick Rivas Hernandez up at her home in Lake Elsinore, California, at around 8.40pm on April 23 last year, and she was dropped off at the home he was renting in Hollywood Hills at around 10.10pm.That is when he allegedly killed the teenager. D4vd performed at last year's Coachella music festival just a few weeks before prosecutors said Rivas Hernandez was killedThe preliminary hearing is now expected to last up to five days, during which the prosecution is expected to call 10 witnesses, most of whom are law enforcement officials or medical examiners.District Attorney Nathan Hochman said outside the hearing that his office has not yet decided whether to pursue the death penalty in the case.D4vd began making music for YouTube videos he created of the video game Fortnite when he was a teenager.The songs he wrote and recorded on his phone were a blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. The music made him a phenomenon on TikTok, Instagram, Soundcloud and Spotify, where his top songs, including his 2022 breakthrough 'Romantic Homicide,' have more than a billion plays. In 2023, he released two EPs and opened for SZA on tour.He performed at last year's Coachella music festival just a few weeks before prosecutors said Rivas Hernandez was killed, and his album was released. Five months later, he was on tour promoting it when the body was discovered.