What Happened With d4vd: Arrest, Charges, and Evidence

Singer d4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, was arrested on April 16, 2026 and charged four days later with the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose dismembered remains were found in the trunk of his Tesla in September 2025. Prosecutors allege the 21-year-old killed the teenager at his Hollywood Hills home to stop her from exposing a sexual relationship that had begun when she was 13. He has pleaded not guilty, remains in custody without bail, and is awaiting a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court.¹

Who d4vd Is

Burke built his career on TikTok, where his viral songs “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me” pushed him into the mainstream. He released his first studio album on April 25, 2025, and was in the middle of a worldwide tour when the body in his car was identified.¹

The Victim and the Alleged Relationship

Prosecutors say Burke first met Celeste Rivas Hernandez in January 2022, when she was 11. According to court filings, their sexual relationship began in November 2023, when Celeste was 13 and Burke was 18. Through 2024 the two reportedly spent time at Burke’s home and traveled together to Las Vegas, London, and Texas.²

Celeste was reported missing by her family at least three times in 2024.³ After her family confiscated her phone, prosecutors allege Burke drove to her hometown of Lake Elsinore and paid one of her classmates $1,000 to give her a replacement phone so they could keep communicating.⁴ Investigators say recovered text exchanges referenced sex, pregnancy, abortion, and emergency contraception.⁵ In one March 2025 message cited by prosecutors, Celeste wrote: “All we do is have sex and just hang out man I want more than that for myself.”²

The Alleged Killing

On April 22, 2025, according to prosecutors, Celeste and Burke had a long text argument during which she became “extremely upset” and threatened to disclose details of their relationship that would “end his career and destroy his life.”⁶ The next evening, prosecutors say, Burke sent an Uber to her home in Lake Elsinore around 8:40 p.m., and she arrived at his Hollywood Hills house roughly 90 minutes later.

Prosecutors allege Burke stabbed Celeste to death at his home on April 23, 2025. The autopsy determined she died of multiple penetrating injuries to the chest and abdomen, including a stab wound that injured her liver and a second wound to her left chest. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide in December 2025.⁷

How Prosecutors Say the Body Was Disposed Of

Court filings allege Burke used the alias “Victoria Mendez” to buy tools for disposing of Celeste’s body. On April 24, 2025, he ordered a shovel from Home Depot via Postmates. On May 1, he ordered two chainsaws from Amazon. On May 5 came a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, and a blue inflatable pool. Prosecutors believe the dismemberment occurred on or around May 5.⁸

Prosecutors allege Burke placed Celeste’s body in the inflatable pool inside his garage to contain blood while he dismembered her with the chainsaws. A forensic expert later matched blue plastic fragments embedded in the cut surfaces of her remains to that pool.⁹ In July 2025, Burke allegedly ordered a “burn cage” from Amazon to incinerate evidence.¹⁰

The autopsy showed Celeste’s left ring finger and pinky finger had been amputated. The ring finger bore a tattoo of Burke’s name. Neither finger was recovered.⁹ Prosecutors also say Burke drove to an isolated area near Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County on several occasions to dump the victim’s belongings and destroy evidence. In January 2026, a Caltrans worker found Celeste’s U.S. passport card along a roadway near that site.¹¹

How the Body Was Found

On September 8, 2025, a 2023 Tesla registered to Burke was towed from a Hollywood Hills neighborhood after appearing abandoned. Workers at the impound yard reported a strong odor coming from the car. Inside the front trunk, investigators found a black zippered body bag containing a decomposed head and torso, and a second bag with additional remains. Prosecutors say the remains had been inside the vehicle for more than four months.¹² The remains were officially identified as Celeste Rivas Hernandez on September 16, 2025. Burke was on tour at the time.²

Police executed a search warrant at Burke’s Hollywood Hills home on September 17, 2025. In the garage, investigators found biological samples that tested positive for blood matching Celeste’s DNA. Authorities also recovered what prosecutors described as a “significant amount” of child sexual abuse images from Burke’s phone and iCloud account.¹³ As of mid-2026, Burke had not been separately charged for those images, though prosecutors have referenced them in court.

Arrest and Charges

Burke was arrested on April 16, 2026, by Los Angeles police and U.S. Marshals at a home in the Hollywood Hills.¹⁴ On April 20, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the charges:

First-degree murder, with special circumstance allegations of lying in wait, murder for financial gain, and murdering a witness to a criminal investigation.
Continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14.
Lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14.
Unlawful mutilation of human remains.

The murder charge carries a special allegation that Burke personally used a deadly weapon, described as a sharp instrument. The special circumstances make him eligible for life in prison without parole or the death penalty. Hochman said a decision on whether to seek the death penalty would come later.¹⁵¹⁶

What Prosecutors Say the Evidence Shows

The prosecution’s theory, laid out in a nine-page preliminary hearing brief, is that Burke killed Celeste to silence her and protect his music career. Hochman told reporters that “the financial gain was for Mr. Burke to maintain a lucrative musical career that Celeste was threatening that night.”⁶

Prosecutors cite more than 40 terabytes of digital data pulled from Burke’s devices, text messages documenting the relationship and the April 22 argument, surveillance video showing Burke driving the Tesla where the body was later found, the forensic match between pool fragments and the victim’s remains, and the child sexual abuse material from his phone and cloud storage.²

The Defense Response

Burke pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment on April 20, 2026. He is represented by Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter. Shortly after the arrest, the defense team said: “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.”¹⁷

At a May 2026 hearing, Berk pressed the court on the volume of discovery still outstanding, including DNA evidence and narrative reports. “It’s hard to argue what you don’t know yet,” she told the judge.¹⁸ The defense has not publicly detailed an alternative theory of the death.

Fallout in the Music Industry

Interscope Records, Burke’s former label, quietly severed ties with him in 2025, before the arrest. Universal Music Group said it held no ownership or copyrights to his music because his deal had been a licensing agreement; his releases now appear under an entity called D4VD ENT., LLC.¹⁹

Several artists pulled collaborations. Kali Uchis began removing their song “Crashing” as early as September 2025, telling fans on Instagram: “Not my friend i did a song with him which is currently in the process of being taken down given today’s disturbing news.” Holly Humberstone, Laufey, and Damiano David also removed collaborative tracks from streaming platforms. A song with The Kid Laroi remained available.²⁰ YouTube demonetized Burke’s account, suspending him from its Partner Program for “off-platform behavior that is harmful to YouTube’s Community.” Spotify and Apple Music had not publicly responded to calls to remove his catalog.¹⁹

Where the Case Stands Now

Burke remains in custody without bail. His preliminary hearing, which will determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed to trial, has been postponed multiple times. As of mid-2026, it is scheduled for July 21, 2026, with a status conference set for July 7. The case is before Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo in Los Angeles Superior Court.²¹²² No trial date has been set, and the District Attorney’s Office has not announced whether it will seek the death penalty.

1
BBC News. Singer D4vd Charged With Murder of 14-Year-Old Girl
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ABC7. Singer D4vd Charged With Murder: Timeline of Investigation
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ABC7. Celeste Rivas Hernandez Case: New Details on Teens Body Found in D4vd Tesla
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CNN. D4vd Timeline: Celeste Rivas
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NBC Los Angeles. D4vd Celeste Rivas Hernandez Graphic Allegations
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NBC Los Angeles. D4vd Court Hearing: Celeste Rivas Hernandez Murder
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ABC7 News. D4vd Arrested: Celeste Rivas Hernandez Autopsy Report Released
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People. D4vd Allegedly Made These Online Purchases Under a Fake Name
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New York Post. D4vd Used Chainsaw to Dismember Celeste Rivas in His Garage: Prosecutors
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ABC7 New York. D4vd Case: Disturbing New Court Document Details
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The Independent (Santa Barbara). Singer D4vd Allegedly Visited Santa Barbara County the Night of 14-Year-Olds Murder
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E! Online. D4vd Case: Celeste Rivas Hernandez Missing 2 Fingers, Autopsy
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NBC News. D4vd: Significant Amount of Child Sex Abuse Images on iCloud Account
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CNN. D4vd Celeste Rivas Hernandez Investigation Timeline
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LA County District Attorney. Singer D4vd Charged With Capital Murder of 14-Year-Old Girl
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Al Jazeera. D4vd Charged With Murder of 14-Year-Old Celeste Rivas Hernandez
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KTLA. Lawyers for D4vd Say Singer Was Not the Cause of Teen Girls Death
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LA Mag. D4vd Winks at Blair Berk as Judge Pushes Murder Preliminary Hearing to June 29
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Rolling Stone. D4vd Dropped by Label Interscope, Song Collabs Pulled
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Billboard. D4vd Collabs Removed From Streaming
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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