Autopsy Finds Teen Found in D4vd Tesla Died From Homicide

The newly released autopsy sharpens the violence at the center of the D4vd case: Celeste Rivas Hernandez, 14, died from multiple penetrating injuries caused by objects, and the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide.

That finding adds a formal medical conclusion to a case already marked by disturbing facts. Rivas Hernandez’s dismembered remains were found Sept. 8, 2025, in the front storage area and trunk of a Tesla registered to David Anthony Burke, the 21-year-old singer known as D4vd. The car had been towed from a Los Angeles street two days earlier, and investigators later identified the remains as those of the Lake Elsinore girl.

The cause-of-death ruling matters beyond the brutality it describes. It gives prosecutors and investigators a clearer medical framework for a case that now includes first-degree murder, lewd or lascivious acts with a minor, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and mutilation of human remains. Burke has pleaded not guilty. The homicide determination, coupled with the description of multiple penetrating injuries, places the death firmly in the category of intentional violence rather than an unexplained death or accident.

The records were not immediately public. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner had placed a court-ordered security hold on the case on Nov. 21, 2025, after a request from the Los Angeles Police Department. That hold delayed release of the autopsy materials until now, limiting public access to the official findings during a period when the criminal investigation was intensifying.

Rivas Hernandez’s parents spoke publicly for the first time after the charges were filed, thanking the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and saying, "all we want is justice for Celeste." Their statement underscored the human cost behind a case that has moved quickly from a grim discovery to a homicide ruling and a major felony prosecution.

For Los Angeles authorities, the autopsy now stands as one of the most consequential records in the case. It confirms that the teen’s death was violent, deliberate, and fatal in a way that will continue to shape both courtroom strategy and public scrutiny as the prosecution moves forward.