Eight months after the decomposing remains of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez were discovered in a Tesla belonging to singer D4vd, the 21-year-old has been charged with murder in connection with her death.
During a news conference on Monday (Apr. 20), Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman revealed that the singer is being charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances: lying in wait, financial gain and the murder of a witness in an investigation.
“Before I get into the description of these charges and their seriousness, I want to look at this as a parent. I am a parent of three children, and a parent’s nightmare is a situation where your daughter goes out one night and never comes back,” Hochman said. “Celeste, a 14-year-old at that time, went to Mr. Burke’s house in the Hollywood Hills. She was never heard from again.”
Hochman suggested that D4vd (real name David Anthony Burke) killed Hernandez “to maintain his very lucrative musical career that Celeste was threatening on that particular night.”
If convicted, the singer faces either life in prison or the death penalty. He also faces additional felony charges, including continuous sexual acts, lewd and lascivious sexual acts with an individual under 14 years old and mutilating the human remains of a body.
“In this particular case, as the evidence will come out in court, the witness to the investigation was Celeste, and the investigation was into the lewd and lascivious sexual acts committed by Mr. Burke that is the subject of count two of this complaint, with Celeste while she was under 14 years old,” Hochman said.
Rivas Hernandez was reported missing in April 2024. According to Hochman, Rivas Hernandez was killed on April 23, 2025, months before her dismembered remains were discovered in a Tesla belonging to the singer. Los Angeles County Medical Examiner listed her death as September 8, 2025, the day she was discovered, but listed her cause of death as “deferred.”
After her body was discovered, D4vd began canceling shows tied to the promotion of his “Withered” album. Before he postponed it in September 2025, fans recalled prior concerts in July and August in which a casket and mock memorial were used during D4vd’s performance. Several brands severed ties with the singer as morbid curiosity about the case propelled him to become one of the most searched entities on Google in 2025.
He was arrested last Thursday, and both his parents and lawyers have proclaimed he is innocent in the case. He entered a plea of not guilty on Monday and his lawyers want a preliminary hearing within 10 days. The legal maneuver could force Hochman to present all of his witnesses and evidence in the case. If Hochman does not have witnesses or evidence prepared for the hearing, the case could be dismissed outright.
