American singer-songwriter D4vd has been charged with murd£r in the de@th of a 14-year-old girl.
The singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is accused of murd£ring 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose dismembered and decomposed body was found last September in his apparently abandoned Tesla, prosecutors said Monday.
The singer could face a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole or the de@th penalty if convicted, LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference.
Celeste went to the singer’s house in the Hollywood Hills on April 23, 2025, Hochman said. “She was never heard from again,” he said.
The district attorney said the murder charge carries three special circumstances: lying in wait, committing a murder for financial gain, or murdering a witness in an investigation.
The “financial gain” circumstance was for “Mr. Burke to maintain his very lucrative musical career that Celeste was threatening on that night,” said Hochman.
Additionally, Celeste was a witness to “the lewd and lascivious s£xual acts committed by Mr. Burke,” said Hochman.
The length of time between the teen’s death and the discovery of her body presented a challenge for investigators, according to Los Angeles police Chief Jim McDonnell.
“The substantial amount of time that passed between her de@th and the discovery meant that crucial evidence had degraded or disappeared, and as detectives worked to uncover the truth, they also had to sift through and debunk a great deal of false information circulating publicly,” McDonnell said.
Celeste’s family has largely stayed out of public view since her body was discovered.
“The Rivas Hernandez family is committed to ensuring that Celeste’s voice is heard and her memory is honored throughout this process,” Patrick Steinfeld, the attorney for the family, said.
Meanwhile, d4vd’s attorneys have previously said they intend to “vigorously defend David’s innocence,” adding the singer “has only been detained under suspicion.”
“Let us be clear – the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murd£r Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death,” attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter said in a statement.
“There has been no indictment returned by any grand jury in this case and no criminal complaint filed,” the statement said.
Court documents released in February indicate a grand jury has been investigating the singer in connection with Celeste’s death.
The charges come nearly two years after the third – and final – time Celeste was reported missing by her family, capping a series of urgent pleas in early 2024 as loved ones and friends grew increasingly alarmed about the seventh grader’s safety and whereabouts.
She was 13 at the time – a teenager remembered in photos for her soft smile and thick, curly hair.
In September 2025, a day after what would have been her 15th birthday, her dismembered and decomposed body was discovered in the trunk of a Tesla registered to d4vd while he was in Minneapolis on a world tour promoting his debut album, “Withered.”
Authorities have not established a clear timeline for when Celeste was k!lled, though court records indicate she was 14 at the time of her death. Photographs obtained by CNN suggest she was alive almost a year after she was first reported missing.
Neighbors say the car appeared abandoned, parked on a street not far from the Hollywood Hills home where d4vd had been living. It was later towed, and an employee at the yard alerted police after noticing a strong, foul odor coming from the vehicle.
Authorities arrested the singer on April 16 on suspicion of k!lling Celeste, taking him into custody at a residence in the Hollywood Hills just over a mile from the tow yard where the girl’s body was found inside his car.
He is being held in jail without bail.
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