Singer faces first-degree homicide and extra costs that might result in life with out parole or the dying penalty.
Singer D4vd has been charged in the USA with homicide within the dying of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a 14-year-old woman who was final seen alive practically a yr in the past.
The 21-year-old musician, whose authorized title is David Burke, faces first-degree homicide and extra costs, together with lewd acts with a minor and mutilation of a physique. D4vd pleaded not responsible on Monday.
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The prosecutor stated Rivas Hernandez’s dismembered and decomposed physique was found in September inside an apparently deserted Tesla linked to the singer.
Authorities stated the case contains particular circumstances – mendacity in wait, committing crime for monetary achieve and the alleged killing of the witness in an investigation – making Burke eligible for all times with out parole or the dying penalty.
Los Angeles County District Lawyer Nathan Hochman stated prosecutors would determine later whether or not to hunt the dying penalty.
Burke was arrested at a house in Hollywood on Thursday and was being held with out bail.
The witness he’s alleged to have killed is Rivas Hernandez, who may have given testimony in regards to the intercourse crime allegations.
Rivas Hernandez had disappeared in 2024, when she was 13. That was her age when, in accordance with an allegation in a felony criticism, the singer engaged in steady sexual abuse of her for at the least a yr from September 2023 to September 2024.
Hochman stated authorities believed the woman went to D4vd’s Hollywood Hills house on April 23, 2025, and “was by no means heard from once more”.
Burke’s legal professionals stated on Monday that the proof would present he’s harmless.
“The precise proof on this case will present that David Burke didn’t homicide Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the reason for her dying,” they stated. “We are going to vigorously defend David’s innocence.”
Court docket paperwork define secret probe
The singer had been underneath investigation by a Los Angeles County grand jury wanting into the dying.
The probe was formally secret, however its existence, and his designation as its goal, was revealed in February when his mom, father and brother objected in a Texas courtroom to subpoenas demanding they testify.
The 2023 Tesla Mannequin Y was registered within the singer’s title at their tackle, in accordance with courtroom filings. Authorities didn’t publicly acknowledge him as a suspect till his arrest.
Police investigators looking out the Tesla in a tow yard discovered a cadaver bag “lined with bugs and a powerful odor of decay”, courtroom paperwork stated.
Detectives partially unzipped a bag and located a head and torso.
Investigators from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Workplace eliminated the bag and “found the legs and arms had been severed from the physique”, in accordance with courtroom paperwork.
A second black bag was discovered underneath the primary, and dismembered physique elements had been inside it. No explanation for dying has been publicly revealed, and police acquired a decide to dam the discharge of particulars of the post-mortem.
The courtroom order was anticipated to be lifted after the fees.
Rising to fame
D4vd gained reputation amongst Gen Z for his mix of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit Romantic Murder, which peaked at quantity 4 on Billboard’s Sizzling Rock & Various Songs chart.
He then signed with Darkroom and Interscope Data, and launched his debut EP, Petals to Thorns and a follow-up, The Misplaced Petals, in 2023.
When the physique was found, the singer continued his North American tour, however when experiences of his potential involvement unfold broadly, he cancelled the ultimate two reveals and a European tour that was to comply with.
