Los Angeles County prosecutors have charged alt-pop singer D4vd, legal name David Burke, with sexually abusing, murdering, and mutilating the body of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a seventh grader whose dismembered remains were found months after her death in the trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke. He has pleaded not guilty.
The case, built over a secret grand jury investigation that only came to light through a Texas court filing, lays out a timeline of alleged predation, killing, and concealment that prosecutors say Burke carried out to protect his rising music career. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman told reporters:
"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."
Burke, now 21, was arrested April 16, 2026, on suspicion of murder and held without bail. LAPD announced the arrest on social media, posting photos of officers in tactical gear approaching a home. Charging documents filed days later allege murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14, and mutilating a body, with special circumstances including "lying in wait," murdering a witness to an investigation, and alleged financial gain.
Burke's music career took off in 2022 when "Romantic Homicide" went viral on TikTok and peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He signed with Darkroom and Interscope Records. By the time prosecutors say the abuse began, November 2023, Rivas Hernandez was 13 years old.
Prosecutors allege Burke paid $1,000 to one of Rivas Hernandez's junior high classmates to give the girl a phone. Court documents say she eventually lived with Burke in Los Angeles, roughly 80 miles from her family's home in Lake Elsinore.
The girl was reported missing several times. On February 17, 2024, investigators first contacted Burke about her. Riverside County authorities reached out during one disappearance. Los Angeles sheriff's deputies went to Burke's house looking for Rivas Hernandez and informed him she was 13.
Two days later, prosecutors say, the girl returned home and her parents took her phone away. But on April 5, 2024, her family reported her missing from Lake Elsinore for the last time. In the months that followed, prosecutors allege she spent extensive time with Burke and traveled with him to Las Vegas, London, and Texas.
The New York Post reported that prosecutors allege Burke continuously sexually abused Rivas between September 2023 and September 2024, when she may have been as young as 12. The relationship, prosecutors say, continued even after the two "broke up" in November 2024 and she returned to Lake Elsinore.
The case carries grim echoes of other high-profile criminal prosecutions that have gripped the public, including the sexual abuse allegations facing entertainer Russell Brand, where fame and access created the conditions for alleged predation.
On April 11, 2025, Burke performed at Coachella and gave an interview to the Associated Press. Twelve days later, prosecutors say, he killed Rivas Hernandez.
Prosecutors cited text messages from April 22, 2025, between the two. A court filing described their content:
"The messages reveal the victim's jealousy over defendant's relationships with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together."
On April 23, prosecutors allege, Burke sent a rideshare to pick up Rivas Hernandez in Lake Elsinore. She arrived at his Hollywood Hills home around 10:10 p.m. Text messages began at 10:30 p.m. Another text was sent at 11:30 p.m. Prosecutors say that is the last anyone heard from her.
A prosecution filing described what allegedly happened next, as the Associated Press reported:
"Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened, very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out."
Prosecutors say Burke then drove to a remote area in Santa Barbara County that same night. By April 24, he had used Postmates to have a shovel delivered to his home. Two days later, on April 25, he released his debut album "Withered."
On May 1, 2025, eight days after the alleged killing, prosecutors say Burke ordered two chainsaws to be delivered to his home, using a fake name. By May 5, prosecutors allege, Rivas Hernandez's arms and legs were severed from her body.
A subsequent court filing alleges Burke dismembered Rivas Hernandez in an inflatable pool in his garage. DNA matching hers was later found there. The pool itself bore cut marks.
Prosecutors wrote that Burke "took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim's body." Court documents say police searching the Tesla found a cadaver bag containing a head and torso, and a second bag containing arms and legs.
The prosecution's account paints a picture of calculated concealment. Burke allegedly lied to friends and business associates who noticed the smell. The filing states:
"He lied to his friends, business associates, and others who noticed the strong smell of decay in and around his home and vehicle."
In late July 2025, before embarking on a concert tour, Burke parked the car around the corner from his Hollywood Hills home. His "Withered" tour launched August 5 in Del Mar, California. On September 3, he released an official Fortnite anthem, "Locked & Loaded," in collaboration with Epic Games. Five days later, on September 8, one day after what would have been Rivas Hernandez's 15th birthday, her remains were discovered in the Tesla's trunk.
The sheer duration of the concealment, nearly five months between the alleged killing and the discovery of the body, is a detail that separates this case from other recent violent crimes in the Los Angeles area.
Authorities searched Burke's home on September 17, 2025. A court filing says they found blood evidence matching Rivas Hernandez's DNA along with the inflatable pool. The remaining dates of Burke's tour were canceled September 19. AP confirmed he was dropped by Interscope Records at some point in 2025.
On November 24, 2025, police blocked the release of the coroner's report. The medical examiner's office said it had received a "court order, initiated by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), to place a security hold" on the case. The exact cause and manner of death have not been publicly released.
In January 2026, Rivas Hernandez's passport was found in remote Santa Barbara County, the same area prosecutors say Burke drove to the night of the alleged killing.
The grand jury investigation remained sealed, as is standard, until February 2026. It became public only because Burke's mother, father, and brother filed an appeal of subpoenas in Texas. Texas court filings stated the "target may be involved in having committed the following criminal offenses against the laws of the State of California, to wit: One count of murder."
Burke was arrested on April 16, 2026. Charging documents were filed days later. The special circumstances alleged, lying in wait, murdering a witness, financial gain, could lead to a harsher sentence if Burke is convicted. In other high-profile murder prosecutions, the legal maneuvering before trial has drawn intense public scrutiny, and this case appears headed for the same.
Burke's lead defense attorney, Blair Berk, has pushed back on the prosecution's narrative. Fox News reported her statement:
"We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez."
Burke himself has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Before his arrest, in an interview with the AP at Coachella, he spoke about his relationship with his fan base:
"I am my fans and my fans are me. And we work in tandem with each other and it's such a beautiful poetic kind of thing that we have."
That was April 11, 2025. Prosecutors say he killed a 14-year-old girl twelve days later.
Multiple news outlets reported that Rivas Hernandez's family held a funeral service on October 6, 2025, at Queen of Heaven Cemetery and Mortuary in Rowland Heights, California.
The timeline raises hard questions that the prosecution has yet to answer publicly. Rivas Hernandez was reported missing multiple times. Authorities contacted Burke and told him her age. Sheriff's deputies went to his house. And yet the girl ended up back in his orbit, traveling across state lines and eventually, prosecutors allege, living with a man nearly a decade older than her.
Cases like the Gilgo Beach serial killer prosecution remind us that the worst outcomes often follow a chain of missed chances. Whether law enforcement or child welfare agencies could have intervened more aggressively to protect Rivas Hernandez is among the open questions this case will force into the light.
The coroner's report remains under seal. The grand jury proceedings are still sealed. Burke sits in jail without bail. And a family in Lake Elsinore buried a girl who never made it to her 15th birthday.
Fame, money, and a record deal bought David Burke access to stages around the world. What they could not buy, if prosecutors are right, was a way to keep a dead child hidden forever.
