D4vd accused of killing, dismembering Celeste Rivas Hernandez, 14, to protect singer's music career
D4vd accused of stabbing, dismembering teen's body
Singer D4vd is accused of stabbing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez's body and then buying chainsaws online, according to prosecutors.
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LOS ANGELES – A chilling court filing from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has revealed the first detailed allegations against singer D4vd in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
Prosecutors describe a calculated effort to silence the girl, who apparently threatened the artist’s rising career just as he was set to release his debut album.
The backstory:
According to the court filing, 21-year-old David Burke met Rivas Hernandez when she was 11 and began sexually abusing her when she was 13, and he was 18.
Prosecutors said the parents of Rivas Hernandez reported her missing from her home in Lake Elsinore in February 2024. After the February report, Riverside County Sheriff’s detectives contacted Burke, but he told them he had only met her once and did not know she was a minor.
After she returned home that February, her parents took away her cellphone, but Burke drove to her hometown and paid a friend of Rivas Hernandez $1,000 to give her a phone so they could communicate.
She was reported missing again in April 2024. The document said that year, she spent much of her time at Burke’s home in the Hollywood Hills and traveled with him to Las Vegas, London, and Texas to meet his family.
Prosecutors said they had obtained text messages that showed their sexual relationship, including child sexual abuse images of her on his phone.
"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," the document stated. "She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life."
Gruesome new details emerge in D4vd murder case
The District Attorney’s Office claims Burke used chainsaws to dismember the body in an inflatable pool and attempted to dispose of the evidence.
On April 23, 2025, after Rivas Hernandez threatened to expose their relationship, Burke allegedly lured her to his home via a rideshare. Prosecutors said the two exchanged messages until she arrived at his home, after which her phone went silent permanently.
Once there, he is accused of stabbing her multiple times and letting her bleed out.
"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," the filing said.
The filing details a horrific "cleanup" process.
Burke allegedly used two chainsaws to dismember Rivas Hernandez's body in an inflatable pool in his garage, where her DNA was later found, according to prosecutors.
"Defendant took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim’s body," prosecutors said in the brief.
They allege Burke also sent her a late-night message asking where she was in an attempt to cover up the killing.
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According to prosecutors, Burke then drove to Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County, about 110 miles northwest of his home, to get rid of evidence three times, the document alleges. Her passport was found there in January.
On April 24, 2025, the day after her death, he gave a radio interview and had a record-release party promoting his debut full-length album, "Withered," which was released the following day, prosecutors said in the filing.
Prosecutors allege Burke kept Rivas Hernandez's body in his Tesla, and lied to friends and business associates who asked about the smell.
Her remains were found months later in September, so badly decomposed that examiners could not determine her eye color.
She had braces at the time of her death, and a tattoo that read "Shhh ...." on the inside of a finger as well as his name, according to the report. Two fingers were missing — as were parts of her arms and legs.
An autopsy report said she was killed by "penetrating wounds."
What's next for D4vd in the murder investigation?
David Anthony Burke, known as D4vd, has a preliminary hearing in connection with the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Here's what next.
What we know:
Burke was arrested on April 16, 2026, and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, mutilation of a dead body, and lewd acts with a minor.
His lawyers have said he is innocent and did not cause Rivas Hernandez’s death.
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What we don't know:
While Burke has been charged, the District Attorney’s Office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.
The defense has not yet presented its official version of events or any evidence to counter the DNA and text message logs cited by the prosecution.
D4vd murder case: Do prosecutors have what they need?
Attorney Mark Geragos discusses the latest developments in the D4vd murder case as the singer returns to court on Thursday in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose dismembered remains were found in the trunk of his Tesla in a Hollywood Hills tow yard.
Dig deeper:
The singer began making music for YouTube videos he created of the video game Fortnite when he was a teenager.
The songs he wrote and recorded on his phone were a blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. The music made him a phenomenon on TikTok, Instagram, Soundcloud and Spotify, where his top songs, including his 2022 breakthrough "Romantic Homicide," have more than a billion plays.
In 2023, he released two EPs and opened for SZA on tour.
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Burke performed at last year’s Coachella music festival just a few weeks before prosecutors said Rivas Hernandez was killed, and his album was released.
He was on tour promoting it in September when Rivas Hernandez's body was discovered and his name became publicly attached to the case.
It would be seven months before he was arrested.
What's next:
A judge will determine whether there is probable cause to go to trial during a preliminary evidentiary hearing on May 26.
The Source: This report is based on a formal court filing and evidentiary brief released by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. The information includes specific allegations from prosecutors, autopsy findings, and details from a hearing presided over by Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo. Additional details were sourced from previous FOX 11 reports. The Associated Press contributed.