D4vd Charged with Teen Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s Murder

David Anthony Burke, known as singer D4vd, was charged with the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez on Monday.

Burke’s legal team claims he is innocent.

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman spoke with reporters at a press conference, announcing D4vd was charged with “the most serious charges a D.A. office can bring, that is first-degree murder with special circumstances.”

Those special circumstances included lying in wait, because D4vd allegedly invited Celeste to his home at the time she disappeared, financial gain because he was allegedly protecting his career, and murdering a witness to an investigation, which was tied to an investigation into allegations he was sexually abusing Celeste.

Hochman said if convicted, the singer faces “life without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty.”

The D.A. went on, “And there are additional charges against Mr. Burke including continuous sexual acts… with an individual under 14 years old and mutilating human remains of a body.”

The D.A. called the case “a parent’s worst nightmare… where your daughter goes out one night and never comes back.”

He stated that in April 2025 the teen went to D4vd’s home in the Hollywood Hills and was “not heard from again.”

Hochman said that in September 2025, Celeste’s “dismembered and decomposed remains were found in two bags inside of a front trunk of a car registered to Mr. Burke.” 

Last week, D4vd was arrested on suspicion of murder.

At the time, his attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter told the L.A. Times in a statement, “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.”

In September 2025, the LAPD issued a press release stating, “We can confirm that Celeste Rivas Hernandez is deceased, and her body was found in the front trunk area of a Tesla belonging to David Burke. The vehicle had been parked at the location from which it was towed for several weeks, so Ms. Rivas Hernandez may have been deceased for several weeks before the discovery of her body.”