D4vd Charged with First-Degree Murder in Death of 14-Year-Old Celeste Rivas Hernandez

Singer-songwriter D4vd has been charged with three charges including first-degree murder following his arrest last Thursday in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell announced the charges at a press conference Monday, describing the killing as "brutal and horrific."

Hochman outlined three separate charges against Burke. The first is first-degree murder with a special circumstance of "lying in wait," referring to Celeste's visit to his Hollywood Hills home. The second alleges murder for financial gain, with prosecutors arguing Burke killed the teenager to protect a music career she was threatening to expose. The third charge is murdering a witness as prosecutors allege Celeste was a witness to a separate investigation into sexual acts Burke committed against her when she was 13. If convicted, Burke could face life without parole or the death penalty.

Celeste Rivas Hernandez was a first-generation American, the daughter of parents who immigrated from El Salvador, and a seventh-grader from Lake Elsinore, California. She was last seen entering Burke's Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025 and was not heard from again. Her dismembered and decomposed remains were discovered on September 8, 2025 inside the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke, only a day after what would have been her 15th birthday. The car had been towed from the Hollywood Hills neighbourhood five days after it was reported abandoned. Investigators determined she had been deceased for several weeks by the time her body was found.

Celeste had run away from home in April 2024 and briefly contacted her family the following month.

Burke, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is a 21-year-old singer from Houston, Texas known for the viral hits Romantic Homicide and Here With Me. He had amassed 22 million monthly Spotify listeners and released his debut album just months before the discovery of Celeste's body. At the time his Tesla was found, he was midway through his worldwide tour promoting the album. He subsequently cancelled all remaining US and European tour dates and withdrew from public life.

Hochman addressed the seven-month gap between the discovery of Celeste's remains and Burke's arrest. He explained that the advanced decomposition of her body significantly complicated and delayed determining her cause of death and that the substantial time between her death and the discovery of her body had degraded much of the physical evidence. He added that investigators had to work through a large volume of material and navigate witnesses who were not always “cooperative”. LAPD Chief McDonnell pushed back on criticism of the timeline, saying: "My duty is not to fuel speculation. It's to deliver justice, and that requires patience and discipline on everybody's part." He added that the investigation was guided by one priority and it was ensuring nothing done or said by authorities would compromise the case.

Burke's legal team, attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter, maintained his innocence following his arrest in a statement following the arrest: "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. There has been no indictment returned by any grand jury in this case and no criminal complaint filed. David has only been detained under suspicion. We will vigorously defend David’s innocence."

Attorney Patrick Steinfeld relayed a message from Celeste's father, Jesus Rivas, who said simply: "Thank God... justice for Celeste.”

Related: D4vd Arrest Video Emerges in Celeste Rivas Death Case