D4vd Case Takes Horrific Turn With Chainsaw, Shovel, Payoff Allegations

Editor’s note: This article contains graphic details about a murder and sexual abuse of a minor that some readers may find disturbing.

Prosecutors have made a string of horrifying allegations against D4vd, accusing the singer of stabbing teenager Celeste Rivas Hernandez, watching as she bled to death, and dismembering her body with a chainsaw.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office made the claims in a new court filing on Wednesday, April 29.

In the nine-page document posted online by Deadline, prosecutors said the evidence against D4vd, born David Anthony Burke, is based on a months-long investigation by LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division detectives.

The filing says Burke met Rivas Hernandez when she was 11 years old in January 2022. Detectives allege the singer groomed the young girl and started having sex with her in November 2023, when she was 13 and he was 18.

The singer and the teen exchanged extensive text messages, revealing they had a falling out when Rivas Hernandez discovered she wasn’t the only girl Burke was seeing, according to the filing.

Possible Motive
In March 2025, Rivas Hernandez texted Burke and said she wanted more than a physical relationship. “All we do is have sex and just hang out, man I want more than that for myself,” the filing says she wrote.

Detectives allege the teen was killed on April 23, 2025, one day after she and Burke got into a “lengthy argument” via text.

“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. She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life,” the filing says.

Detectives allege the killing was motivated by money. “He had an emerging multi-million-dollar career,” the filing says. “He also had multiple product endorsements which were highly profitable.”

Rivas Hernandez ran away multiple times from her home in Lake Elsinore, California — about an hour from downtown Los Angeles. She had returned home before she was killed, detectives learned.

On April 23, 2025, investigators say Burke ordered an Uber to bring the teen to his Hollywood Hills mansion. They were reportedly texting during the Uber ride.

The teenager arrived at the house at about 10:10 p.m., according to the filing. Soon after she arrived, Burke allegedly stabbed her “multiple times” and “stood by while she bled out.”

“At no time did he call law enforcement or 911, or take her to an emergency room to attempt to save her life,” the filing says. Rivas Hernandez was 14 years old at the time of her death.

Investigators say Burke reportedly sent a text message to the teen’s phone at approximately 10:30 p.m. the night of the killing. Prosecutors allege the text was part of a “premeditated plan” to cover the singer’s tracks.

The documents say Burke reportedly left his home around 11:30 p.m., and drove to an area in Santa Barbara County to allegedly “dispose of her property and destroy evidence.”

He returned home the next morning, then did a radio interview to promote his debut studio album, Withered, which was released on April 25, 2025.

Chainsaws and Shovel Ordered 
The court filing says Burke ordered a shovel from Home Depot on April 24, and it was delivered to his home via Postmates.

Investigators allege Burke ordered two chainsaws from Amazon on May 1. Then on May 5, the singer allegedly ordered a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, and a blue inflatable kiddie pool. The purchases were made under the alias Victoria Mendez, the documents state.

Detectives allege the singer placed the pool inside his garage and “used a chainsaw and perhaps other tools” to dismember the teen’s body in the pool, to prevent her blood from spilling onto the  the floor.

“Defendant took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim’s body,” the filing says.

The autopsy, released last week after it was unsealed, said Rivas Hernandez’s remains had pieces of blue plastic embedded in them, her limbs were cut off, and her left ring and pinky fingers were severed.

Prosecutors say the ring finger had a tattoo of the singer’s name on it. The two fingers were never recovered, according to Wednesday’s filing.

Murder Investigation Begins
The teen’s decomposed remains were discovered on Sept. 8, 2025, when LAPD officers responded to a tow yard in Hollywood after employees noticed a strong odor coming from an impounded Tesla registered to Burke.

LAPD detectives served a search warrant at the singer’s house later that month. Detectives allegedly “discovered evidence consistent with the dismemberment of the victim’s body in the inflatable pool, which contained multiple linear cuts. Several biological samples, which tested positive for blood, were collected within the garage area.”

D4vd Linked to Lake Elsinore
Rivas Hernandez ran away from home in February and April 2024, prompting the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office to launch an investigation.

Detectives went through the teenager’s phone records and called Burke on Feb. 17, 2024, the filing says. He reportedly claimed he did not know Rivas Hernandez was a minor or that her family had reported her missing.

The court documents say the teen returned home two days after the conversation. Her parents took her phone away. However, investigators allege Burke continued to pursue her.

Alleged Payoff
The filing says D4vd drove to Lake Elsinore and allegedly paid a student from Celeste’s class $1,000 to give the teen a phone he had purchased so they could continue to communicate.

The documents allege the two began to meet up again, including on summer weekends at his home in the Hollywood Hills. Investigators additionally claim the two traveled together to Las Vegas, London, and Texas, to meet Burke’s family.

The filing says text messages between the two contained “references to sex, pregnancy, abortion, and use of the Plan B emergency contraceptive.” The court filing alleges investigators also found explicit photographs “corroborating their sexual relationship.”

The two broke up in November 2024, but continued to communicate and “to have sexual relations,” the filing states.

At a hearing last week, Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said the prosecution has collected “40 terabytes” of evidence from phones, computers, tablets and an iCloud account.

Prosecutors allege that evidence includes a “significant amount” of child sexual abuse images allegedly found on the singer’s phone.

Arrest and Not Guilty Plea
Burke, 21, was arrested in Los Angeles on April 16, 2026. He pleaded not guilty to three charges — first-degree murder with special allegations; lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14; and mutilating a body. He is being held without bail.

His attorneys have said, “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 singer appeared in court this afternoon in downtown Los Angeles for a procedural hearing. There is so much interest in the case that the court started a lottery for media outlets to get seats in the packed courtroom. Some seats have also been left open for the public.

A preliminary hearing scheduled for May 1 was delayed because the defense needs more time to prepare. The hearing was moved to May 26, when the court will determine if there is sufficient evidence for the singer to go on trial.