Inside the D4vd Murder Case and Killing of Celeste Rivas Hernandez

Jul 21, 2026 - 13:15

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Inside the D4vd Murder Case and Killing of Celeste Rivas Hernandez

D4vd Had “Significant Amount” of Child Sex Abuse Images in iCloud Account, Prosecutors Say

Content warning: This story contains graphic descriptions of an alleged murder.

A judge will determine if there’s enough evidence against D4vd for the murder case to move to trial.

Three months after his arrest, the singer (real name David Anthony Burke) is scheduled to appear in Los Angeles court on July 21 for a preliminary hearing that is expected to last three days.

D4vd is facing one count each of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains in the case of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose decomposed and dismembered body was found in his car last September.

The preliminary hearing will not determine whether the musician is innocent or guilty but whether there’s enough evidence against him to support the prosecution’s charges and move the case forward to trial. D4vd has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers have denied the allegations against him.

"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," his lawyers Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter said in an April statement to E! News after the 21-year-old was arrested and charged. "We will vigorously defend David’s innocence."

In April, prosecutors submitted a brief to provide a "roadmap of evidence" that they noted they plan to introduce at the hearing. The brief, reshared by Courthouse News Service, states that D4vd and Rivas Hernandez met in January 2022 and "began a sexual relationship" in November 2023, when she was 13 and he was 18. She was reported missing in April 2024.

"Throughout 2024, the victim spent a significant amount of time with the defendant, including summer weekends at his home in the Hollywood Hills and traveling with him to Las Vegas, London and Texas to meet his family," the prosecutors’ brief continues. "Text exchanges between the victim and defendant contain references to sex, pregnancy, abortion, and use of Plan B emergency contraceptive. There are also explicit photographs documenting and corroborating their sexual relationship."

Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty Images/GoFundMe/Rivas Hernandez Family

The brief notes that D4vd and Rivas Hernandez broke up in November 2024, but prosecutors say the two continued to communicate, with texts allegedly suggesting "they also continued to have sexual relations."

Then on April 22, 2025, according to the brief, the pair got into an argument, which was purportedly detailed in the texts.

"The messages reveal the victim’s jealousy over defendant’s relationship with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together," the brief reads. "She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life."

On April 23, 2025, the brief continues, D4vd allegedly sent an Uber to take Rivas Hernandez from her Lake Elsinore home to his Hollywood Hills residence. Prosecutors list this day as the likely date of her death.

"Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened," the brief states, “very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood while she bled out.”

Ted Soqui - Pool/Getty Images

Prosecutors allege D4vd then drove to Santa Barbara County to "dispose of her property and destroy evidence." While the brief states the "Romantic Homicide" singer texted Rivas Hernandez asking about her whereabouts at around 10:30 p.m and 11:30 p.m. that night as well as after he returned home the morning of April 24, 2025, prosecutors allege she was already dead and that the messages were part of his "premeditated plan to cover up the murder."

According to the brief, D4vd, using a fake name, allegedly ordered a shovel on April 24, 2025 followed by two chainsaws on May 1, 2025 as well as a "body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, and a blue inflatable pool." In addition, prosecutors allege he made two more trips to Santa Barbara County later in May and ordered a "burn cage" on July 7, 2025 to "incinerate evidence."

"Moreover, defendant took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim’s body," the brief continues. "After placing her body into the blue inflatable pool to prevent her blood from spilling onto his garage floor, defendant used a chainsaw and perhaps other tools to cut off her limbs."

Furthermore, prosecutors allege D4vd "amputated her left ring and pinky fingers because her ring finger contained a tattoo of his name," noting the fingers have not been located.

"Defendant then placed her head and torso into the cadaver bag he purchased," the brief alleges. "He placed her limbs into a garbage bag, which he deposited into his front trunk, laying the cadaver bag on top. For several weeks, or possibly months, defendant left the victim’s body to decompose inside his Tesla."

According to the brief, surveillance footage shows D4vd was the last person to drive his vehicle on July 29, 2025—with him allegedly parking the car on a street around the corner from his home. He then headed off to his tour, which began in Del Mar on Aug. 5.

The car was towed in early September, the brief continues, and the tow-yard’s manager called the Los Angeles Police Department on Sept. 8 after noticing a "strong smell of decay and presence of flies coming from the vehicle." After detectives arrived, the brief adds, they discovered a dismembered body that the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Department identified on Sept. 16 as Rivas Hernandez. In a December death investigation summary, the medical examiner ruled her cause of death as "multiple penetrating injuries" and her manner of death as a homicide.

Police served a search warrant at D4vd's home on Sept. 17, and the remainder of his tour was canceled around this time. He was arrested on April 16 and charged four days later.

To learn more about D4vd and the case, read on.

Instagram/D4vd

Where is D4vd From?

Born in Queens, New York, D4vd (real name David Anthony Burke) moved to Houston, Texas, when he was 13 years old.

Josh Brasted/FilmMagic

How Did D4vd Become Famous?

D4vd first began his career as a streamer, playing Fortnite and other games in an attempt to go viral on YouTube. When he ran into copyright infringement challenges with the music he was adding to his videos in 2021, he turned to his mom.

“I'm like crying to Mom about it,” he told Benny Blanco during an interview for Hero magazine in September 2024. “I'm like, Yo, I don't know what to do I'm not making any money anymore, blah blah blah.’ And she was on a phone, and she was like, ‘Just make your own music, go get out of my face.’ And I was like, ‘Wait a minute. I could probably do that.'"

From there, despite not having any musical experience other than singing for fun, D4vd downloaded an app on his phone and started making music. Soon, some of his songs went viral, and after more of his original music started to go viral on TikTok, his career began to really take off.

The 20-year-old eventually released his debut album, Withered, in April 2025, embarking on his first world tour shortly thereafter.

Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Riot / Netflix

When Was the Body Found in D4vd’s Car?

On Sept. 8, the Los Angeles Police Department was called to a tow yard in Hollywood over reports of a foul odor coming from a vehicle, law enforcement sources told NBC News.

The LAPD found human remains wrapped in a bag hidden in the front trunk of a Tesla, which was registered in Hempstead, Texas, under D4vd’s real name, David Anthony Burke.

Police said the vehicle had been towed to the impound lot after it was abandoned in the Hollywood Hills.

Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Made on YouTube 2024

Who Was the Victim Found in D4vd’s Car?

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office September 16 said the remains found in the Tesla were identified as Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been reported missing on April 5, 2024. She was 13 years old at the time of her disappearance and officials believe she died when she was 14.

Her manner of death was announced in April 2026 as homicide, while her cause of death was determined to be “multiple penetrating injuries” to her chest and abdomen, including an injury to her liver, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's report obtained by E! News. Though her death was officially pronounced September 8—the day her body was discovered—officials noted her body appeared to have been in the car for an extended period of time before its discovery and was “severely decomposed.”

Erika Goldring/Getty Images

What Has D4vd Said About the Investigation?

Following the discovery of Rivas Hernandez’s body, a spokesperson for D4vd said in a statement to NBC News that the singer "has been informed about what’s happened, and although he is still out on tour, he is fully cooperating with the authorities."

Since then, D4vd canceled the remainder of his U.S. dates.

Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock

What Happened in the Case?

D4vd was arrested for Rivas Hernandez's murder, the Los Angeles Police Department announced April 16, 2026.

“Detectives from Los Angeles Police Department, Robbery-Homicide Division have arrested David Burke, a 21-year-old resident of Los Angeles, for the murder of Celeste Rivas," the public information officer stated on X. "Burke is being held without bail.”

Antoine Flament/Getty Images

What Was D4vd Charged With?

D4vd was charged with one count of murder, one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and one count of unlawful mutilation of human remains, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed in an April 20 press release.

“Celeste was just a child, under 14 years old, when David Burke allegedly engaged in repeated lewd and lascivious sexual relations with her,” District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said. “But Burke’s actions did not allegedly stop there. When she threatened to expose his criminal conduct and devastate his musical career, Burke allegedly murdered her, cut up her body and stuffed her body in two bags that were placed in the front trunk of his car. There the dismembered body sat for over four months decomposing until it was found at a tow yard on Sept. 8, 2025. This horrific and gruesome murder committed by the charged sexual predator is shocking and appalling. To Celeste’s loved ones, we will get the justice you seek and deserve.”

The criminal complaint against D4vd also “includes special circumstance allegations of murder of a witness, murder for financial gain and lying in wait.” Additionally, there is a “special allegation” that he “personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a sharp instrument, to commit the crime.”

D4vd's attorney's denied he was the cause of her death, telling E! News in an April 20 statement, "We will vigorously defend David’s innocence."

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