The family of Celeste Rivas Hernandez is pressing Los Angeles prosecutors to seek capital punishment if D4vd is convicted in her killing.
The parents of Celeste Rivas Hernandez are asking Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman to seek the death penalty if D4vd is convicted of murdering their daughter.
In a rare public statement since the criminal case began, the family told the California Post that a life sentence would not be enough. Celeste Rivas Hernandez would have turned 16 on Monday.
“If the death penalty were activated, it would be perfect for this kind of human being, devoid of feelings and emptiness inside, and without conscience, who only caused pain to our daughter, our family, and the world that supports our precious daughter,” the family said. “But that’s not in our hands, but rather in God’s, and the California justice system.”
Family pressure lands as prosecutors weigh capital punishment
The request comes as prosecutors have yet to decide whether to pursue capital punishment. That delay has been tied in part to a change in Burke’s defense. Last week, the singer born David Burke dropped his legal team and moved to a public defender. Hochman said at the time he was waiting on a mitigation packet from the public defender’s office laying out why Burke should not face the death penalty.
California has not carried out an execution since 2006. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a reprieve on all executions in 2019. Even so, Hochman has said his office can again consider capital punishment in the rarest murder cases.
“Effective immediately, the prior administration’s extreme and categorical policy forbidding prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in any case is rescinded,” Hochman said in a statement. “In its place, the new murder with special circumstances policy will consider pursuing the death penalty only after an extensive and comprehensive review and only in exceedingly rare cases.”
Burke has pleaded not guilty
At his rearraignment last week, Burke pleaded not guilty. He is charged with sexually abusing 14-year-old Rivas Hernandez before killing and dismembering her and concealing her remains in the front trunk of his Tesla.
The family’s statement marks one of the few public interventions from Rivas Hernandez’s parents since proceedings began. Their position now puts added pressure on a case already moving through one of the most closely watched capital punishment decisions in Los Angeles in years.
