After seven months of investigation, a grand jury process, and a stopped world tour, LAPD homicide detectives arrested the 21-year-old Houston-born artist Thursday holding him without bail as prosecutors prepare to file charges.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. —
Homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department arrested 21-year-old singer David Anthony Burke known professionally as d4vd Thursday on suspicion of murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose decomposed and dismembered remains were found seven months ago in the trunk of his impounded Tesla.
The arrest came shortly after 4:30 p.m. LAPD officers in tactical gear moved in on Burke at his Hollywood Hills home, leading him away with his hands behind his back. He is being held without bail. The case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office Monday for filing consideration.
A Body in a Tow Yard, a Tour Still Running
The grim discovery happened September 8, 2025, when workers at Hollywood Tow reported a strong odor coming from a Tesla registered to Burke. Officers opened the front trunk known as a frunk and found the remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez in two cadaver bags.
What they found inside was horrific. A cadaver bag covered in insects emitted a powerful odor of decay. When detectives partially unzipped it, they found a decomposed head and torso. A second black bag underneath held severed arms and legs. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office noted the body was so severely decomposed that examiners could not distinguish eye color, and listed her weight at 71 pounds.
The Tesla had been abandoned in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood, where neighbors say it had sat parked for more than a month before being towed. Celeste’s remains were found a day after what would have been her 15th birthday,
At the time of the discovery, d4vd was on his “Withered” world tour, with a stop in Minneapolis and Kansas City scheduled back-to-back. The final North American show in San Francisco and Los Angeles, including a scheduled performance at the Grammy Museum were subsequently canceled, as was a European tour set to begin in Norway.
A Girl from Lake Elsinore
Celeste Abigail Rivas Hernandez was a 14-year-old from Lake Elsinore, California, born to parents who immigrated from El Salvador. She was reported missing three times in the final year of her life by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. She last ran away in April 2024 and made her final contact with her family in May 2024.
Her mother told TMZ that Celeste had been dating someone named “David” before her death. Celeste’s brother told NBCLA that she went missing after Burke picked her up in his Tesla. Sources reported she had been living in a rental property with Burke, and that she had met him through the internet.
The connections between the two ran deeper. Photos surfaced online showing Burke with a girl who looked strikingly like Celeste. Both had a matching tattoo Celeste’s on her right index finger reading “Shhh…,” the same tattoo visible in Getty Images photos of Burke.
Surveillance footage and digital evidence confirmed Rivas was alive as recently as January 2025. Investigators believe she may have died in spring 2025, around the time Burke’s Tesla was last seen actively in use before being abandoned on Bluebird Avenue in late July.
Seven Months of Investigation
The case did not move fast. The medical examiner listed cause of death as “deferred” the body’s condition made determining how she died deeply difficult. In November 2025, the LAPD publicly classified the case as a murder investigation for the first time. Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters that “accountability is coming” and that “no one is off the table, including Burke.”
A grand jury was convened through November and December, hearing physical evidence, digital records, and witness testimony including, reportedly, executives from Burke’s record label. Prosecutors, led by Beth Silverman, pushed for murder charges.
The LAPD also confirmed it was investigating a trip Burke took to the Santa Barbara area sometime in spring 2025, following Hernandez’s death. Initially described by a spokesman as “fully cooperating with authorities,” Burke reportedly stopped cooperating with law enforcement by mid-November 2025.
Investigators tell ABC News they spent months methodically building a case one they could stand behind in court. The central hurdle was the medical examiner’s determination of cause of death. Investigators say they can now prove the teen’s death was murder.
The Defense Pushes Back
Burke’s legal team high-profile defense attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter wasted no time responding.
“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,” the attorneys said in a statement.
An attorney for Burke’s parents also issued a statement: “David’s parents believe in his innocence and support him wholeheartedly.”
A Rising Star, A Career in Freefall
D4vd’s debut studio album “Withered” launched in April 2025, debuting at No. 13 on the Billboard 200. It included the single “Crashing,” featuring Kali Uchis who later clarified on Instagram that she was not friends with Burke and was working to pull the song from streaming services.
D4vd, pronounced simply “David,” had built his audience among Generation Z fans through a blend of indie rock, R&B, and lo-fi pop, going viral on TikTok in 2022 with “Romantic Homicide.” The song’s title now carries a weight its young listeners never anticipated.
What Comes Next
The LAPD will present its case to the District Attorney’s office Monday. No formal charges have been filed yet. Cause of death remains officially undetermined in public records. Burke remains in custody without bail.
The Rivas Hernandez family is also considering filing a civil lawsuit against the LAPD to force the release of evidence and investigative records, citing delays and a lack of transparency throughout the seven-month investigation.
For the community of Lake Elsinore a working-class city of about 75,000 in western Riverside County, sitting in the shadow of the Santa Ana Mountains the arrest offers the first sign of formal accountability. Flowers, photographs, and handwritten notes still mark a memorial for Celeste near her neighborhood.
She would have turned 15 the day after she was found.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office is expected to make a charging decision Monday. A court appearance for Burke has not yet been scheduled.
