LOS ANGELES – The singer D4vd has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, announced Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman on Monday.
The 21-year-old singer, legally known as David Burke, is accused of waiting for Rivas Hernandez at his Hollywood Hills home last April and killing her for financial gain to support his music career.
District Attorney Hochman claimed that Rivas Hernandez was in a sexual relationship with Burke and that the Los Angeles Police Department was investigating inappropriate sexual acts Burke allegedly committed with her when she was under 14 years old.
According to Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell, Rivas Hernandez was reported as a runaway from Riverside County, California. She was last seen on April 23, 2025, the same day she arrived at Burke’s home. Her dismembered and decomposing body was later discovered in two bags in the front trunk of a Tesla SUV registered to Burke on Sept. 8.
The coroner’s report on the cause of death has not been released yet, but Hochman assured that his office would swiftly seek a court order for its public release. The investigation is ongoing, with Hochman intending to present the evidence used to charge Burke in court.
Citing physical, forensic, and digital evidence, Hochman stated his determination to prove the charges against Burke beyond a reasonable doubt in court. Burke was arrested near the Chateau Marmont on Thursday, a well-known Hollywood hotel, just two miles away from where Rivas Hernandez’s body was found.
(The information was sourced from The Associated Press.)
