Family of Slain Teenage Victim Urges Death Penalty if D4vd Convicted

The family declared that activation of the death penalty would be fitting for an individual who showed no empathy and was hollow inside.

Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s parents are pressing for the death penalty should D4vd be convicted of murdering their daughter, who would have celebrated her 16th birthday on Monday.

In a rare public statement since the criminal case against the singer commenced, the family of the victim urged Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman to seek the death penalty rather than a life sentence if D4vd is found guilty.

“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 in a statement to the California Post. “But that decision lies not in our hands, but in God’s and the California justice system.”

The pursuit of the death penalty has been delayed in part because the singer, whose birth name is David Burke, dismissed his legal team last week and retained a public defender. Hochman indicated that he was awaiting a mitigation report from the public defender outlining why Burke should not face capital punishment.

Although California has not carried out an execution since 2006 and Governor Gavin Newsom declared a moratorium on all executions in 2019, Hochman left open the possibility of reinstating capital punishment in particularly egregious murder cases.

“Effective immediately, the previous administration’s blanket policy prohibiting prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in any case is hereby revoked,” Hochman said. “Under the new policy, the death penalty will be considered only after a thorough and comprehensive review, and solely in extremely rare circumstances.”

During his rearraignment last week, Burke entered a plea of not guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted the 14‑year‑old victim before killing her, dismembering her body, and hiding her remains in the trunk of his Tesla.

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