David Burke, the 21-year-old alt-pop singer known professionally as D4vd, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered and decomposed remains were discovered in September inside Burke's apparently abandoned Tesla in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County District Attorney, Nathan Hochman, announced the charges at a press conference on Monday, describing the case as "a brutal and horrific murder" and "a parent's nightmare."

Prosecutors allege that Rivas Hernandez visited Burke's Hollywood Hills home on 23 April 2025 and was never heard from again. Her body was found on 8 September — a day after she would have turned 15 — when a tow yard worker detected a strong odour coming from the vehicle, which had been sitting abandoned on a street for weeks before neighbours alerted authorities. Court documents describe investigators finding two black cadaver bags inside the car, one containing a head and torso, the other holding severed limbs. Rivas Hernandez had been reported missing in April 2024, at age 13, by her family in Lake Elsinore, a city of around 50,000 people roughly 70 miles (112 kilometres) southeast of Los Angeles.

Burke faces first-degree murder with three special circumstances — lying in wait, killing for financial gain to protect his "lucrative" career, and murdering a witness to an ongoing investigation — any of which could make him eligible for the death penalty, though prosecutors have not yet announced whether they will seek it. He also faces charges of continuous lewd and lascivious sexual acts with a person under 14 and mutilation of human remains. Hochman said the medical examiner has determined a cause of death, though the details remain under a court-ordered seal; the DA indicated the order would be lifted shortly. Burke was arraigned on Monday afternoon. His lawyers have firmly denied his guilt, stating: "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 case had been the subject of a secret Los Angeles County grand jury investigation, the existence of which became public in February when Burke's parents and brother challenged subpoenas requiring them to testify in a Texas court. The Tesla in which the remains were found was registered in Burke's name at the same Texas address. Authorities faced criticism for the seven-month gap between the discovery of the body and the arrest, but the Los Angeles police chief said investigators had been dealing with an "extremely difficult case" in which key evidence had degraded or disappeared, and said they had been careful not to jeopardise the prosecution.

D4vd — pronounced "David" — rose to prominence among Gen Z audiences after his song "Romantic Homicide" went viral on TikTok in 2022, reaching number four on Billboard's Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He subsequently signed with Darkroom and Interscope Records, labels affiliated with Universal Music, which suspended his promotional activities after the body's discovery; Sony followed suit days after his arrest. His album Withered, released in April 2025, had reached number 13 on the Billboard chart and accumulated over 520 million streams on Spotify before the case drew widespread attention. Several brand partnerships, including with Hollister and Crocs, were also dropped. Rivas Hernandez's family has declined to make public statements, though Hochman said he had met with relatives and described their grief as "incalculable." She was remembered by those who knew her as studious, quiet, and kind.