David Anthony Burke \u2014 the 21-year-old music star better known as D4vd \u2014 repeatedly sexually abused a teenage girl before murdering her and dismembering her body in order to protect his ascendant music career, prosecutors alleged Monday.<\/p>\n
Burke was charged with murder, repeated sexual abuse of a minor and mutilation of human remains in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, according to a criminal complaint made public late Monday morning. <\/p>\n
Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said \u201cthe brutal and horrific murder\u201d happened last April, when Celeste was last seen entering Burke\u2019s Hollywood Hills home. After that, Hochman said, she was \u201cnot heard from again.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cA parent\u2019s nightmare is a situation where your daughter goes out one night and never comes back,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
D4vd has been linked to the girl\u2019s death for months, after reports surfaced that Celeste\u2019s badly decomposed body was found in the trunk of a Tesla that belonged to the singer at a Hollywood tow yard. According to the complaint filed Monday, Burke killed Celeste on April 23, 2025, then mutilated her corpse about two weeks later in early May. <\/p>\n
Burke has denied all wrongdoing through his attorneys. <\/p>\n
\u201cLet us be clear \u2014 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,\u201d his legal team of Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter said in a statement. <\/p>\n
Hochman said there is \u201cphysical, forensic and digital\u201d evidence tying the singer to the crime. <\/p>\n
The prosecutor\u2019s office filed murder with special circumstances charges Monday, alleging Burke killed Celeste for financial gain and because she was a witness to a crime \u2014 her own sexual abuse at the singer\u2019s hands. The abuse started on Sept. 7, 2023 \u2014 Celeste\u2019s 13th birthday \u2014 and ended one year later, according to the complaint. <\/p>\n
If convicted as charged, Burke would face life in prison without the possibility of parole \u2014 or, potentially, the death penalty. A review board will be convened to determine whether prosecutors can seek capital punishment.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said authorities had learned in the investigation that Burke was sexually abusing the teen, but authorities declined to elaborate on the details of how they believe it was linked to her disappearance. <\/p>\n
Police were not actively investigating the abuse at the time Celeste disappeared, according to Josh Rubenstein, communications director for the Los Angeles County district attorney\u2019s office. <\/p>\n
Hochman also said the killing was committed for financial gain, so that Burke could \u201cmaintain his very lucrative musical career,\u201d which Celeste posed a threat to. Her family is expected to hold a news conference Monday afternoon, following Burke\u2019s scheduled appearance in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.<\/p>\n
Shortly before noon, L.A. County deputies began investigating a \u201cpossible bomb threat\u201d at the courthouse, according to a sheriff\u2019s department spokesperson. It was unclear whether the incident was related to the case. <\/p>\n
Burke was arrested by Los Angeles police late last Thursday at a residence in Hollywood near Sunset Boulevard. He surrendered after a phalanx of heavily armed officers stormed the street. <\/p>\n
Celeste was reported missing in Riverside County last summer. Her body was found in the trunk of a Tesla at a Hollywood tow yard on Sept. 8, 2025, and news quickly surfaced that the vehicle was registered to Burke. The ascendant singer \u2014 whose music features in the wildly popular video game \u201cFortnite\u201d and who has collaborated with Kali Uchis and 21 Savage \u2014 had just started a national tour in support of his debut album, \u201cWithered,\u201d when reports surfaced of his potential link to the teen\u2019s death. <\/p>\n
As Burke canceled his tour, investigators began meticulously building a case. In November, The Times reported<\/a> that L.A. County prosecutors had convened a secret grand jury to collect evidence in connection with Celeste\u2019s killing. Investigative grand juries cannot return indictments against defendants, but they are often used to enshrine evidence and subpoena witnesses for a future criminal proceeding. Earlier this year, a member of D4vd\u2019s entourance, Neo Langston, was arrested in Montana after he attempted to avoid appearing before the L.A. grand jury. <\/a> <\/p>\n The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner\u2019s office was barred from revealing a cause of death in the case, but court records made public in February said Celeste\u2019s limbs were severed from her body when she was found. <\/p>\n Hochman said prosecutors will make court filings that will allow the coroner to release the details of the girl\u2019s death. The medical examiner\u2019s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Anthony Burke \u2014 the 21-year-old music star better known as D4vd \u2014 repeatedly sexually abused a teenage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[11282,11281,10684,154,11284,2070,11280,8,11278,7713,306,2036,11279,10689,9,11283,10776,7],"class_list":{"0":"post-18524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-14-year-old-celeste-rivas-hernandez","9":"tag-actual-evidence","10":"tag-burke","11":"tag-case","12":"tag-david-anthony-burke","13":"tag-death","14":"tag-decomposed-body","15":"tag-headlines","16":"tag-hernandez","17":"tag-killing","18":"tag-los-angeles-times","19":"tag-murder","20":"tag-nathan-hochman","21":"tag-national-tour","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-secret-grand-jury","24":"tag-singer-d4vd","25":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116438921533373536","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}