The murder trial of 21-year-old American singer D4vd, which began after the body of a 14-year-old girl (who had just turned 15 shortly before being found) was discovered in the trunk of a vehicle, has taken an unexpected turn as his entire defense team abruptly resigned during the proceedings.

According to local media, three lawyers from his existing defense team expressed their intent to resign before the judge during a pretrial conference held on August 31. The presiding judge approved their request to withdraw and determined that he qualified for the appointment of a public defender.

While some speculated that the legal team stepped away because D4vd was likely to lose the case, this appears to be untrue. Local media outlets, including TMZ, lean toward "money issues"—specifically the exhaustion of funds—as the background for the resignation. The attorneys who announced their intent to resign also publicly stated, "We still support D4vd and his defense."

Before his arrest, D4vd had been active as a singer, generating significant buzz primarily on social media. During a preliminary hearing held in July, his financial advisor revealed that D4vd's music earnings over roughly a two-year period starting from 2023 amounted to about $10 million to $11 million (approx. 14 billion won). Earlier this month, D4vd's father was spotted securing funds for legal fees by selling a house under D4vd's name and taking out a loan using another real estate property as collateral.

Meanwhile, D4vd has been formally indicted on three charges—murder, habitual sexual abuse of a child under 14, and illegal mutilation of a corpse—following his arrest on April 17, and he has maintained his innocence. Prosecutors claim that D4vd had been in a multi-year relationship with the 14-year-old victim, and after she threatened to expose their relationship and ruin his career right before the incident, he stabbed and killed her in April of last year.

The next pretrial conference is scheduled for October 19.

(Photo: Yonhap News) (Reported by Kang Kyung-yoon, SBS Entertainment News)