By: Emily Nixon
Alternative-pop singer d4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, aged 21, was arrested on April 16 for the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. He was charged with her murder on April 20 and has since pleaded not guilty, according to CNN.
“When [Hernandez] 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,” Los Angeles (LA) County District Attorney (DA) Nathan Hochman said in a press release. “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 car where Hernandez’s remains were stored was abandoned not far from a home Burke had been renting in the Hollywood Hills, where it was later towed and left in an impound lot, as reported by CNN.
An employee at the impound lot noticed a foul odor emanating from the Tesla and called the police, who then searched the Tesla.
Hernandez’s remains were found hidden in a double-zippered bag and a trash bag in the Tesla, according to Hernandez’s autopsy report. The remains were found the day after her 15th birthday.
The LA DA’s Office alleged that Burke had a sexual relationship with Hernandez, starting when she was just 13 years old.
“Celeste was just a child, under 14 years old, when David Burke allegedly engaged in repeated lewd and lascivious sexual relations with her,” said Hochman in the press release.
Los Angeles (LA) County Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman told CNN that investigators found “a significant amount of child pornography” on Burke’s iPhone, which will be used against him during the trial.
The investigation uncovered more than 40 terabytes of data for detectives and prosecutors to sift through to build their case against Burke.
During Burke’s hearing on April 23, his defense team secured a postponement for the hearing due to the lack of discovery from the prosecution. Discovery is when either the defense or prosecution shares their evidence with the other to build their cases. Burke’s next hearing will be on May 1, according to CNN.
The delay between the remains’ discovery and Burke’s subsequent arrest has become a point of suspicion for the public, as reported by Fox 11.
LA Police Chief Jim McDonnell told Fox 11 that multiple aspects of the investigation have caused the lengthy delays between the discovery and the arrest.
“There’s an awful lot that goes into, you know, to the investigation,” McDonnell explained. “The state of the body when it was found was degraded, decomposed, and that creates another set of circumstances of complexity for the investigators and the coroner’s staff to be able to come up with a determination as to cause and manner of death whenever we have a death, and it’s appropriate.”
McDonnell continued to explain how some tests take months before investigators can use them to ready their case against a suspect.
“A toxicology has to be done on it, and a tox takes up to six months to be able to get the results back from that, but that’s critical to know what other factors, other than what might have been visible, were involved in the determination of the cause of death. So a lot of times, it takes a while to be able to get the full picture, and this was one of those cases,” McDonnell told Fox 11.
Hernandez was reported as missing by her family on Feb. 14, 2024, again on March 19, 2024, and lastly on April 5, 2024. Hernandez was later seen photographed backstage at d4vd’s concert at The Fonda Theatre in LA in June 2024, reported CNN.
Before these disappearances, Hernandez was seen on a Twitch stream with Burke in Jan. 2024. Burke was also photographed near Hernandez’s family home before her disappearance. The last time Hernandez was photographed alive was between Dec. 2024 and Jan. 2025, according to CNN.
“Steve Fischer, a private investigator hired by the owner of the property, said he uncovered a digital camera inside the house that contained photos of both Rivas and D4vd taken in late December 2024 and early January 2025,” reported CNN.
Burke’s lawyers have sworn to fight the charges and support Burke’s innocence in statements to CNN.
“[Burke] did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez, and he was not the cause of her death. We will vigorously defend his innocence.”
In a statement from their lawyer given to ABC7 and CBS News, the Rivas Hernandez family broke their previous silence to express their gratitude to the LA Police Department’s work in bringing their daughter’s killer to justice.
“We would like to thank the Los Angeles Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office for their hard work. We would like to thank the people of Lake Elsinore for all their support,” reported CBS News, quoting the statement. “Celeste was a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance. Every Friday night was movie night, and we spent wonderful times together. We love her very much, and she always told us that she loved us. We miss her deeply.”
The Rivas Hernandez family said in the statement, “All we want is Justice for Celeste.”