LOS ANGELES (Court TV) — Months after the body of a missing teenager was found dismembered in the trunk of his car, a singer has been formally charged with her murder.
David Burke, known professionally as ‘d4vd’ has been charged with murder. (Court TV)
David Burke, 21, a prominent singer known as “d4vd,” is charged with first-degree murder, continued lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14 years old and mutilating the remains of a human body, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced on Monday.
Burke had been taken into custody on suspicion of murder by the Los Angeles Police Department on Friday; at the time, police said they were planning to present their case to prosecutors this week.
Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found dismembered in a car registered in Burke’s name on what would have been her 15th birthday, Sept. 8, 2025. Investigators described her body as so severely decomposed that it took time for the medical examiner to determine her cause of death.
On Monday, Hochman said that Rivas Hernandez was last seen alive on April 23, 2025, months before her body would eventually be found. “A parent’s nightmare is a situation where your daughter goes out one night and never comes back,” Hochman said. Speaking of the victim’s family, Hochman said, “Their grief is incalculable.”
Hochman explained that Burke is being charged with murder with special circumstances, which could carry a potential death sentence with a conviction. No determination has been made as to whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty. Hochman listed three special circumstances included with the charge.
The first special circumstance, lying in wait, was included because Hochman said that the victim was killed after she was invited to Burke’s home in the Hollywood hills on April 23, 2025 — the last time she was ever seen. The second alleged special circumstance is that the murder was allegedly committed for financial gain: Hochman said that evidence will show that Burke killed the victim to maintain the lucrative career the victim was threatening. The third circumstance alleges that Burke killed a witness to an investigation into allegations that Burke was was sexually abusing the underage victim.
Hochman addressed why it took so long for charges to be filed in the case. “In a situation where you don’t have an eyewitness account, or we can’t point to a video that shows the killer killing someone, you have to go through the very rigorous and thorough investigation to look at all the digital and forensic evidence. You have to speak with witnesses often who are cooperative, and some who are not cooperative.”
“My duty is not to fuel speculation, it’s to deliver justice and that requires patience and discipline on everybody’s part,” Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said Monday. “This investigation was driven by a single purpose: to secure justice for [Celeste Rivas Hernandez] and for those who loved her.”
Rivas Hernandez’s cause of death was not immediately released. Hochman said he planned to ask the medical examiner to unseal the report.
