Who is D4vd? Celeste Rivas Hernandez death investigation timeline
April 17, 2026
D4vd's arrest comes months after authorities discovered the body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez in a Tesla in Southern California.
The alt-pop singer known as D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, was arrested Thursday in Hollywood on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. The arrest marks a major development in a case that began seven months ago with a grim discovery in a car towed from a Hollywood Hills neighborhood. Burke, 21, is being held without bail, and Los Angeles police are expected to present the case to the L.A. County District Attorney's office on Monday for consideration of formal charges.
The investigation began on September 8, 2025, when the decomposing body of Rivas Hernandez was found inside the trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke. The vehicle had been impounded from a residential street after being ticketed for abandonment. A tow yard worker reported a foul odor, prompting a police investigation that uncovered the remains. The discovery was made just one day after what would have been the teenager's 15th birthday. According to documents that later became public, her body was found inside a cadaver bag and was dismembered.
Celeste Rivas Hernandez, from Lake Elsinore, had been reported missing by her family in 2024 when she was 13 years old. Law enforcement sources have suggested she may have met Burke online and had been living at a rental home with the singer after running away. The Tesla where her body was found had reportedly been parked on the street since late July 2025, around the time D4vd started a national tour. The singer gained prominence through social media, with viral TikTok hits like "Romantic Homicide" and "Here with Me" leading to a deal with Darkroom and Interscope Records.
Prior to the arrest, the case was the subject of a secret grand jury investigation that began in November 2025. The existence of this probe became public in February 2026 when Burke's family members in Texas legally challenged subpoenas demanding their testimony in Los Angeles. Court documents revealed at that time that D4vd was the "target" of the investigation. In the months following the discovery of the body, investigators served a search warrant at a Hollywood Hills home occupied by Burke and seized electronics.
Following the arrest, Burke's attorneys released a joint statement asserting his innocence. "Let us be clear — the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death," the statement read. They emphasized that no indictment has been returned and no criminal complaint has been filed, and that they will "vigorously defend David's innocence." The singer's burgeoning career had already been impacted, with his "Withered" world tour being canceled in the wake of the initial investigation. The next step in the legal process will be the District Attorney's decision on whether to file formal murder charges against the artist.
Source: usatoday