D4vd's lawyers ask why more DNA testing wasn't done on chain saws, car in teen girl's killing - AP News

What the report says

Associated Press reported that lawyers for singer D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, pressed Los Angeles police analysts Thursday over DNA testing in the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. The questioning came on the third day of a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles, where a judge is weighing whether Burke should face trial on charges including murder, sexual abuse of a child and mutilation of a body. He has pleaded not guilty.

AP reported that police criminalist Samantha Tosch testified that samples taken from apparent blood stains in the garage of Burke’s Hollywood home strongly matched Rivas Hernandez. Prosecutors say Burke killed and dismembered the teenager in the garage; AP photo captions and article material state her body was later found inside a vehicle owned by the singer. Tosch said some DNA results were vastly more likely to have come from Rivas Hernandez than from another person, while other testing found a mixed DNA profile on a trash bag that included Burke.

The defense focused on limits in the forensic evidence. Under questioning, Tosch acknowledged she could not say with certainty that the DNA came from blood rather than touch DNA, could not determine exactly how it arrived on the tested areas, and could not establish how long it had been there. According to AP’s headline and snippet, Burke’s lawyers also questioned why more DNA testing was not conducted on chain saws and the car, though the provided article excerpt does not detail the full exchange.

The hearing matters because it will determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to move the case toward trial. The allegations remain unproven in court.