American singer D4vd is charged with the murder of a girl who was found dead in his Tesla
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WARNING: This story contains descriptions of human remains.
Johannesburg – American singer D4vd has been charged with murder in the death of a 14-year-old girl, whose body was found mutilated and mutilated in September in what was apparently her abandoned Tesla, prosecutors said on Monday.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said D4vd, 21, whose legal name is David Burke, is charged with murdering Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who was reported missing by her family in 2024, when she was 13 years old. Authorities say he was 14 years old when he died.
Homicide detectives arrested the Houston-born singer at his Hollywood home on Thursday. His lawyers said in a statement that he is innocent.
“Let’s be clear – the real evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not kill Celeste Rivas Hernandez and is not the cause of her death,” the attorneys said.
The body was found in September 2025
The long-dead body of Rivas Hernandez was found inside a Tesla that was pulled over in the Hollywood Hills on September 8, a day after he would have turned 15. Her family had reported her missing from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, at about 112 years old. kilometers southeast of Los Angeles.
Authorities did not publicly name Burke as a suspect until after his arrest. A statement from his lawyers last week, in which they said they would “vigorously defend David’s integrity,” was the first time they have publicly weighed in.
The singer was being investigated by an LA County grand jury looking into the death of Rivas Hernandez. The investigation was officially secret, but its existence — and his designation as its target — were revealed in February when his mother, father and brother argued in a Texas court to file subpoenas.
The 2023 Tesla Model Y was registered in the singer’s name at the Texas address of his named family members, according to court filings from prosecutors. It had been towed to the top of the Hollywood Hills, where it sat as if it had been abandoned.
Police investigators who searched the Tesla at the tow lot found the cadaver bag “covered in insects and a strong odor of decay,” court documents state. The detectives slowly unzipped the bag and found the head and body.
Investigators with the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office removed the bag and “found that the arms and legs had been removed from the body,” according to court documents. A second black bag was found under the first one, with submerged body parts inside.
In November 2025, Los Angeles police got a judge to block the chief medical examiner from releasing the results of an autopsy, and no cause of death was revealed.
On Friday, the medical examiner told The Associated Press that the court order was still in effect after Burke’s arrest.
Rivas Hernandez’s family has not made any public statements about his death or the case.
D4vd, nicknamed “David,” has gained popularity among Gen Z with his blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with a hit Killing with Lovewhich reached number 4 on Billboard’s hot rock & alternative songs chart. He then signed with Darkroom and Interscope Records and released his first EP Petals on Thorns and tracking, The Lost Petalsin 2023.
After the body was found, the singer continued his North American tour, but when reports of his possible involvement spread widely, he canceled the last two shows and the upcoming European tour.
