American singer D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, has been arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of murdering Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a 14-year-old girl whose decomposed remains were found in his Tesla car in September 2024. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed on Thursday that the 21-year-old was being held without bail. The case is expected to be presented to the District Attorney's office on Monday, and no formal charges had been filed as of the arrest.
Rivas Hernandez had first been reported missing by her family in April 2024 from their home in Lake Elsinore, a city roughly 75 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Neighbours described her as a familiar face who visited the local corner store almost daily. Her body was discovered on 8 September 2025 at a Hollywood tow yard after workers reported a foul odour from a vehicle. Investigators found her decomposed head and torso in a cadaver bag in the front boot — known as a "frunk" — of a Tesla registered to Burke's address in Texas. The county medical examiner noted severe decomposition and deferred a ruling on cause of death pending further investigation, with officials suggesting she may have been dead for several weeks before the discovery. No cause of death has been officially announced.
A grand jury began hearing evidence in the case in December, and court filings that emerged from a legal dispute in Texas — where Burke's father challenged a summons to testify — revealed that D4vd had been formally identified as a "target" of the investigation. Those filings also disclosed that Rivas Hernandez had a tattoo reading "Shhh…" on her index finger, nearly identical to one the singer bears on his own index finger. She was found wearing a tube top, black leggings, and jewellery.
Burke had risen to prominence through TikTok before breaking into mainstream music. His debut album Withered reached number 13 on the Billboard 200 chart and has accumulated over 521 million streams on Spotify. Around the time of the discovery, he cancelled a world tour — including scheduled performances at Amsterdam's Paradiso and Melkweg venues, which were cited only as being cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances." He was subsequently dropped from brand partnerships with clothing retailer Hollister and footwear company Crocs, and singer Kali Uchis removed their collaborative track Crashing from release.
Thursday's arrest marks the first major development in a case that has drawn intense public attention for months. Burke's representatives had previously stated he was cooperating with authorities, though he had remained largely silent on the matter. The investigation continues, and the full picture of what happened to Celeste Rivas Hernandez — a first-generation daughter of Salvadoran immigrant parents — has yet to be made public.