D4vd Arrested in Connection With Murder of Teenager Celeste Rivas

Editor’s note: This article contains graphic details about human remains that some readers may find disturbing.

David Anthony Burke, a pop singer known to fans as D4vd, has been arrested in connection with the killing of teenager Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose body was found in the front trunk of a Tesla last year in Hollywood.

Los Angeles police announced the arrest on Thursday, April 16. In a statement released on social media, the LAPD confirmed the singer is in police custody after a months-long investigation.

“Detectives from Los Angeles Police Department, Robbery-Homicide Division have arrested David Burke, a 21-year-old resident of Los Angeles, for the murder of Celeste Rivas,” the statement read.

Burke is being held without bail. Police said the case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Monday.

D4vd’s Attorneys Speak Out
In a statement Thursday night, the singer’s attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter criticized the handling of the case.

“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 statement read. “David has only been detained under suspicion. We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”

Rivas’ body was found on Sept. 8, 2025, after LAPD police officers were summoned to a tow yard about a strong odor coming from an impounded Tesla registered to the singer. The vehicle was towed because it had been left unattended and “parked on a public street for more than 72 hours.”

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office identified the decomposed and dismembered remains on Sept. 17. They described Celeste as 5-feet-2 inches tall and said she weighed 71 pounds.

D4vd was on tour when the body was found. A rep for the singer said in September, “He is fully cooperating with the authorities.” A claim the LAPD later disputed.

Search for a Missing Teen
Celeste was from Lake Elsinore, Calif., about 60 miles from downtown Los Angeles. She had been reported missing and was last seen on April 5, 2024.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office released a missing person’s poster displaying pictures of her. At the time, the department said she was 13 years old and weighed 120 pounds.

People in the gaming community said on Reddit and X they had seen Celeste in some of D4vd’s live streams, but the reports were never confirmed.

Her mother came forward and spoke with TMZ after the outlet published an article about the body and included a picture of D4vd, showing he had a tattoo on his right index finger saying “Shhh…”

The mother said she grew concerned when she heard the body found in the Tesla had a “Shhh…” tattoo like her daughter.

At that point, TMZ said it contacted the LAPD. The outlet also published an undated picture it obtained of D4vd in Lake Elsinore, just “a 6-minute walk” from the Rivas Hernandez family home.

Details About the Remains
In court documents submitted to compel D4vd’s family members to appear before a grand Jury in January 2026, detectives revealed the body was found in a “black cadaver bag covered with insects” in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to the singer.

At the time, the temperature was nearing 100 degrees outside. Detectives noted  there was a strong “odor of decay” coming from the bag.

They unzipped it and saw a “decomposed head and torso” inside. The documents said the “arms and legs had been severed from the body.”

There were additional “dismembered body parts” in a second bag that had been placed “underneath” the black bag, the documents read.

The filing said Celeste was 14 years old at the time of her death, clarifying reports that she was 15. The documents identified David Burke as the “target” of the grand jury investigation, adding that he “may be involved” in one count of murder in California.

As interest in the case grew, the singer fled the Hollywood Hills mansion where he was living and returned to Texas.

The Making of a Pop Star
Burke was born in New York City in 2005, and grew up near Houston, Texas. He got his start as a gamer and began creating music to go over his YouTube videos to prevent copyright strikes.

He inked a deal with Epic Games to release “Locked & Loaded (Official Fortnite Anthem).” Just days before the body was found in his Tesla, the singer told Variety the Fortnite music deal was a dream come true. He also had a record deal said to be worth millions of dollars.

He released his debut studio album Withered last year, and was best known for the songs “Here with Me” and “Romantic Homicide.”

D4vd has more than 3-billion streams on his Spotify page. His music is described as “bedroom pop, R&B and alternative rock.”