LOS ANGELES - The musician D4vd, facing trial on charges that he stabbed and dismembered a 14-year-old girl who threatened to expose their secret relationship, replaced his defence team on Aug 31 with the Los Angeles public defender’s office.

D4vd, 21, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court on Aug 31.

The appearance came a month after Judge Charlaine Olmedo found probable cause to order him to stand trial following a days-long proceeding in which prosecutors offered graphic testimony and gruesome crime-scene photos as evidence.

His lead lawyer, Blair Berk, who has defended numerous celebrities in other cases, told the judge that Burke requested new representation, but she did not say why, the Los Angeles Times reported.

It was not immediately clear how Burke qualified financially for public defender assistance, given his lucrative music career.

In a statement, Burke’s former legal team said the court granted their request to withdraw as counsel “after it was determined David qualified for appointed counsel.”

Burke’s next court date is in October, according to KABC in Los Angeles.

Burke began his career as a viral TikTok sensation whose first hit single, Romantic Homicide, led to a multimillion-dollar deal with Interscope Records. His debut studio album was released in April 2025, the same week that prosecutors say his underage girlfriend, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, went missing.

Her decomposing remains were found five months later,