D4vd arrested for murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas
The Los Angeles Police Department has confirmed that singer D4vd has been arrested for the murder of the 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose body was found in the trunk of his Tesla in Hollywood last year.
Rivas’ decomposing body was discovered in a Hollywood tow yard on September 8th, and later identified by the Los Angeles Police Department on September 17th.
The 21-year-old star, David Anthony Burke, has now been arrested by the Robbery-Homicide Division for the murder of Hernandez and is being held without bail.
In September, a spokesman for the musician confirmed that he was “fully cooperating with authorities”. He subsequently cancelled all of his forthcoming shows.
In November last year, it was announced that Burke was considered a suspect in the police investigation. This was around the time that it was reported that Burke was no longer cooperating with law enforcement.
In late November, officials confirmed that records relating to the death of Rivas had been barred from public release, a highly contested move that drew much criticism.
However, in February, unsealed court documents, obtained by Rolling Stone, formally identified him as the “target” of the police probe.
Hernandez was reported missing from her home in California last year; she was last seen in April 2024, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Her body was found after reports of a foul odor coming from the abandoned Tesla were shared with police; inside the front trunk, they found a dismembered body that had been stored inside a bag.
Authorities described her body as “severely decomposed”. They also said she had likely been “inside the vehicle for an extended period of time before being found”. The car had been abandoned in the Hollywood Hills.
Amid the ongoing investigation and a surge in interest in D4vd, according to Google’s ‘Year In Search’ for 2025, D4vd was the most-searched person on the planet.
Burke is being held without bail on suspicion of murder.