Is D4vd Dead? Arrest, Charges, and Industry Fallout

No, D4vd is not dead. The 21-year-old singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is alive and being held without bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles, where he is awaiting trial on first-degree murder and child sexual abuse charges connected to the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. He has pleaded not guilty.¹

Why People Are Asking

The rumors trace back to September 8, 2025, when workers at a Hollywood tow yard on North Mansfield Avenue reported a foul odor coming from an impounded 2023 Tesla Model Y registered to Burke. The car had been towed from a Hollywood Hills neighborhood after sitting abandoned for more than a month. Inside the front trunk, officers found decomposed human remains in two cadaver bags: a head and torso in one, severed arms and legs in the other. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified the remains as Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a teenager from Lake Elsinore who had been reported missing multiple times in 2024.²³

The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by “multiple penetrating injuries,” including two wounds to the torso and injury to the liver. Toxicology returned presumptive positives for benzodiazepines and methamphetamine or MDMA.⁴

Arrest and Charges

LAPD identified Burke as a suspect in November 2025 but withheld his name publicly for months. Chief Jim McDonnell said the department used “patience and discipline” because the degraded remains complicated forensic work and detectives had to conduct complex interviews.⁵

Homicide detectives arrested Burke on April 16, 2026, at a home on Marmont Avenue in the Hollywood Hills.⁶ Four days later, on April 20, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman filed seven criminal counts against him:

First-degree murder with special circumstances alleging lying in wait, financial gain, and killing a witness to an investigation
Continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14
Lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14
Unlawful mutilation of human remains

The special circumstances make the case potentially death-penalty eligible. The District Attorney’s office has said it will decide later whether to seek capital punishment. Burke pleaded not guilty at his arraignment before Judge Charlaine Olmedo.¹⁷

He was initially placed in segregation at Men’s Central Jail because of his high profile before being transferred to Twin Towers.⁸

What Prosecutors Allege

According to a nine-page pre-preliminary hearing brief filed by prosecutors, the case centers on what they describe as a years-long sexual relationship that began when Rivas Hernandez was 13 and Burke was 18. Prosecutors say the two first met in January 2022, when she was 11.⁹

Rivas Hernandez was reported missing from Lake Elsinore at least three times in 2024. The first time, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department tracked her to Hollywood and returned her to her mother. After the family confiscated her phone, prosecutors allege, Burke drove to her middle school and paid a classmate $1,000 to deliver a new phone so they could keep in contact. The filing says the pair spent weekends at Burke’s Hollywood Hills home during 2024 and traveled together to Las Vegas, London, and Texas. Investigators say they have photographs and text messages documenting sexual activity, and that a “significant amount” of child pornography was recovered from Burke’s cellphone.¹⁰⁹

Prosecutors say the killing followed a lengthy argument on April 22, 2025, about Burke’s relationships with other women, during which Rivas Hernandez threatened to disclose information that would “end his career and destroy his life.” They allege Burke stabbed her to death the next day at his Hollywood Hills home. His debut album, Withered, was released two days later, on April 25, 2025.¹⁰¹¹

What prosecutors call a “premeditated plan” to conceal the killing followed. They allege Burke sent text messages to the victim’s phone after her death and used a fake name, “Victoria Mendez,” to order two chainsaws from Amazon along with a blue inflatable pool, a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, a shovel, and a “burn cage.” A shovel was allegedly ordered through Home Depot via Postmates on April 24, the day after the killing. Prosecutors say Burke dismembered the body in his garage, placing the remains in the inflatable pool to contain the blood. Investigators later recovered biological samples from the garage floor matching Rivas Hernandez’s DNA, and plastic fragments embedded in the remains matched the blue pool material. Her left ring and pinky fingers, one of which allegedly bore a tattoo of Burke’s name, were never recovered.¹²

What the Defense Says

Burke is represented by Blair Berk, Regina Peter, and Marilyn Bednarski. In a joint statement, the defense team said: “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. We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”¹³ Berk has called the prosecution’s evidentiary filing “one-sided” and “replete with hearsay.”¹⁰

Where the Case Stands

The case, numbered 26CJCF02399, is being heard in Los Angeles County Superior Court before Judge Olmedo. The preliminary hearing that will determine whether the case moves toward trial has been postponed three times: from May 1, 2026, to May 26, then June 29, then July 21, 2026, after a sealed filing prompted the defense to seek a continuance. A status hearing was set for July 7, 2026. Prosecutors have said discovery in the case may exceed 40 terabytes.¹⁴¹⁵

Fallout in the Music Industry

Burke’s record labels, Darkroom and Interscope Records, cut ties with him before his arrest, according to Rolling Stone and Billboard. He has been scrubbed from both companies’ websites. Because his deal was a licensing agreement, Universal Music Group did not own his copyrights, and his streaming catalog now credits “D4VD ENT., LLC.” UMG helped remove collaborative tracks featuring Kali Uchis, Laufey, Holly Humberstone, and Damiano David from streaming platforms after the charges were filed. YouTube demonetized Burke’s account, citing its Creator Responsibility policy.¹⁶

1
LA County District Attorney. Singer D4vd Charged Capital Murder 14-Year-Old Girl
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PBS NewsHour. Singer D4vd Charged With Murder of 14-Year-Old Found Decomposed in His Car
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NBC Los Angeles. Body in Tesla D4vd Lake Elsinore Girl
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ABC News. D4vd Murder Case Medical Examiner Report Released
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BBC News. D4vd Charged With Murder
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NBC Los Angeles. D4vd Arrest Celeste Rivas Murder
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CNN. D4vd Case Update Celeste Rivas Hernandez
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East Bay Times. D4vd Nick Reiner Same Jail
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ABC7. Singer D4vd Charged Murder Timeline
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CNN. D4vd Timeline Celeste Rivas
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BBC News. D4vd Charged With Murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez
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New York Post. D4vd Used Chainsaw to Dismember Celeste Rivas in His Garage Prosecutors
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FOX Los Angeles. D4vd Legal Team Celeste Rivas Hernandez Murder Trial
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USA Today. D4vd Case News Updates Murder Court Hearing Postponed
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LA Mag. Judge Pushes Back D4vd Preliminary Hearing After Secret Chambers Discussion
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Rolling Stone. D4vd Dropped by Label Interscope Song Collabs Pulled UMG