Medical examiner says teen’s death was homicide, delayed release lifts secrecy

The Los Angeles County medical examiner has ruled that Celeste Rivas Hernandez died from multiple penetrating injuries caused by object(s) and that her death was a homicide, but the finding had been blocked from public release for months by a court order tied to the investigation.

The department said the cause and manner of death were determined on Dec. 9, 2025, after a deputy medical examiner examined Rivas Hernandez on Sept. 10, 2025. The findings were not released until April 22, 2026, after a court order initiated by the Los Angeles Police Department kept the information sealed. The case is identified as 2025-14252.

Rivas Hernandez’s body was discovered at about 11:00 a.m. on Sept. 8, 2025, in the front trunk of a vehicle in a Los Angeles tow yard. Workers at the Hollywood tow yard had noticed a foul odor coming from the car before the discovery, and the remains were found a day after what would have been her 15th birthday. She had been reported missing in the spring of 2024.

Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odey Ukpo said he was grateful the findings could finally be released to the public and to the family, saying it was “unfathomable” that they had waited so long to learn what happened to their daughter. The delayed disclosure underscores how death investigations involving minors can remain sealed even after an official determination has been made, leaving families and the public without a basic account of how a child died.

The release also lands amid the broader criminal case involving musician David Anthony Burke, known as D4vd, who was charged on April 20, 2026, by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman with capital murder in connection with Rivas Hernandez’s death. In a later court appearance, Burke pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers said they would vigorously defend him while seeking a fast-tracked hearing.

The case has drawn intense attention not because of celebrity proximity, but because of the prolonged gap between discovery and disclosure, the victim’s age, and the way a court order delayed public release of the medical examiner’s findings long after the cause of death had been set.