D4vd charged in Celeste Rivas Hernandez murder after Tesla discovery

David Burke, the singer known as D4vd, was formally charged after investigators traced a grim path from a missing teenager report to a homicide case built around an abandoned Tesla, forensic findings, and a body found in pieces. Prosecutors in Los Angeles said Burke faces first-degree murder and related counts in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, along with special-circumstances allegations that include lying in wait, murder for financial gain, and killing a witness in an investigation.

The case hardened around a specific timeline. NBC Los Angeles reported that prosecutors and police say Celeste visited Burke’s Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, and was never heard from again. Celeste had first been reported missing in April 2024, and family contact was last confirmed in May 2024. Investigators say the investigation changed dramatically when her decomposed and dismembered remains were identified in September 2025 after a tow-yard worker found a cadaver bag inside a Tesla registered to Burke. The car had been reported abandoned in the Hollywood Hills and had sat there for more than a month before it was impounded.

The body was discovered at Hollywood Tow on Sept. 8, 2025, after an employee reported a foul smell, according to KTLA. Reporting from the scene and court records said the remains were found in the Tesla’s trunk or front storage area, and Celeste had a distinctive “Shhh” tattoo on her right index finger. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner later ruled the death a homicide and listed the cause as multiple penetrating injuries caused by object(s). The report said the body weighed 71 pounds, was in an advanced state of decomposition, and had been dismembered into several parts.

ABC7 Los Angeles also reported presumptive positives for benzodiazepines and methamphetamine/MDMA in Celeste’s system. Burke pleaded not guilty at arraignment and remains held without bail as prosecutors prepare to lean on physical, forensic, and digital evidence. The family said through their attorney that they are devastated by the findings, after months of waiting for answers in a case that had already drawn intense scrutiny because of the celebrity name attached to it.

The wider backstory in Riverside County adds another layer to the case. KTLA reported deputies had been called to Celeste’s home multiple times over the years, including numerous calls in 2024, underscoring how long the missing-person trail ran before it became a murder prosecution. Now the focus has shifted from where Celeste disappeared to how prosecutors say she died, and who will have to explain the chain of events that ended with a body in a Tesla at a Hollywood tow yard.