D4vd arrested in teen girl's death after body found in Tesla

Los Angeles police arrested singer D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, in connection with the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a case that began with a foul odor coming from an abandoned Tesla and ended with a secret grand jury investigation and a no-bail hold.

Burke, 21, was taken into custody on April 16, 2026, and was being held without bail, according to police. The Los Angeles Police Department said the case would be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Monday for filing consideration, marking the next step in a probe that had already moved far beyond a missing-person inquiry.

Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s remains were discovered on September 8, 2025, in the front trunk of an abandoned Tesla at Hollywood Tow in Los Angeles after officers responded to reports of a foul smell coming from the vehicle. Police and court filings said the car was registered to Burke. Hernandez was from Lake Elsinore in Riverside County and had been reported missing in 2024. ABC News reported she was last seen on April 5, 2024.

The case had been building for months behind closed doors. Court filings dated January 15, later unsealed in Texas proceedings, identified Burke as the target of a Los Angeles County grand jury investigation and said he may have been involved in Hernandez’s death. ABC7 reported those filings said her head and torso were found in one bag and her arms and legs in another. Earlier reporting also said the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner had not released a cause or manner of death, describing the case as deferred pending investigation.

Burke’s attorney said he would vigorously defend his client’s innocence and said there had been no indictment or criminal complaint at the time of that statement. NBC News reported that Burke later canceled the rest of his U.S. tour after the remains were found.

The arrest shifts the case from a grim identification effort into a formal criminal process centered on the death of a 14-year-old girl who disappeared more than a year before her remains were found. It also puts fresh focus on the pace of missing-teen investigations, the use of grand juries before charges are filed, and the forensic trail left by a car that sat abandoned long enough to draw attention from a tow yard.