LOS ANGELES (Court TV) — Prosecutors have revealed grisly new details in the death of a missing teenager whose decomposing body was found dismembered in a Tesla belonging to a singer.
David Anthony Burke, known as ‘d4vd,’ is seen in a courtroom sketch on April 29, 2026. (Bill Robles via AP)
David Burke, 21, known professionally as “d4vd,” has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, continued lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14 years old and mutilating a human body in connection with the death of Celeste Rivas-Hernandez.
In a new filing outlining the evidence they plan to present at next month’s preliminary hearing, prosecutors laid out the timeline they say led to the victim’s death.
An illegal relationship
Burke allegedly met Rivas-Hernandez in January 2022 when she was 11; prosecutors say the couple began a sexual relationship in November 2023, when she was only 13 years old and he was 18.
When Rivas-Hernandez was reported missing in February 2024 after running away, police contacted Burke after finding his number in her records. He denied any knowledge that Rivas-Hernandez was underage. Two days later, Rivas-Hernandez returned home. When she did, her parents took away her cellphone. Prosecutors said Burke was undeterred. “Defendant drove to Lake Elsinore and paid a junior high school student in the victim’s class $1,000 to give the victim a cellphone defendant purchased so they could stay in contact.”
Prosecutors say throughout 2024, the victim spent a significant amount of time with Burke, even traveling with him to Las Vegas, London and Texas. Text messages reviewed by investigators between the two “contain references to sex, pregnancy, abortion and use of the Plan B emergency contraceptive,” prosecutors said. The filing also notes that prosecutors plan to present evidence of photos showing the underage victim nude and engaged in sexual activity with the defendant.
Burke and Rivas-Hernandez allegedly ended their relationship in November 2024, but prosecutors say the two continued communicating and having sex. Prosecutors said messages sent through March 2025 showed the defendant “continued to manipulate the victim, as she messaged, ‘all we do is have sex and just hang out man I want more than that for myself.'”
The murder timeline
Prosecutors laid out their theory of the murder, which they said likely happened on April 23, 2025. The night before, on April 22, Rivas-Hernandez and Burke allegedly had a lengthy argument over text. “The messages reveal the victim’s jealousy over defendant’s relationships with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together. She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life.” April 25 was the release date for Burke’s first studio album.
On April 23, prosecutors say that Burke sent an Uber to pick up the victim from her Lake Elsinore home and bring her to his home in the Hollywood Hills. Ride data and cellphone evidence, prosecutors say, show that Rivas-Hernandez arrived at Burke’s home at 10:10. But 20 minutes later, Burke sent texts to the victim’s phone asking where she was. “The People contend this was part of the defendant’s premeditated plan to cover up the murder, as she was already dead by this time.”
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled that the victim’s death was the result of multiple penetrating injuries, specifically “two penetrating wounds of the torso with smooth edges that might represent sharp force injuries.” Prosecutors said Burke stabbed the teenager to death and “stood by while she bled out.”
One hour later, at 11:30 p.m., Burke allegedly drove away from his home toward Santa Barbara County. He returned home early the next morning and then appeared for a radio interview promoting his upcoming album release.
On April 24, prosecutors say Burke made several purchases online: two chainsaws, heavy-duty laundry bags, a body bag and a blue inflatable pool were bought on Amazon under the name “Victoria Mendez.” Burke also allegedly ordered a shovel from Home Depot that was delivered to his home. On July 7, prosecutors said he ordered a “burn cage” under the same fake name, “as part of his plan to incinerate evidence.”
Investigators say Burke returned to the same area in Santa Barbara County on multiple occasions. A search of that area revealed Hernandez-Rivera’s US Passport card.
Dismemberment and disposal
Prosecutors described a grim scene inside Burke’s garage after the victim’s death. “Defendant took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim’s body. After placing her body into the blue inflatable pool to prevent her blood from spilling onto his garage floor, defendant used a chainsaw and perhaps other tools to cut off her limbs. Small blue plastic fragments were found embedded in the victim’s remains.”
Investigators say Rivas-Hernandez’s remains were found inside the front compartment of a Tesla X registered in Burke’s name. Her head and torso were in a cadaver bag; her legs and arms were in a black trash bag underneath. “In order to distance himself from the victim, he amputated her left ring and pinky fingers because her ring finger contained a tattoo of his name. Her fingers have not been recovered.”
When the Los Angeles Police Department served a search warrant at Burke’s home, officers said they found “evidence consistent with the dismemberment of the victim’s body in the inflatable pool, which had multiple linear cuts.” Biological samples recovered from the scene tested positive for blood and matched the victim’s DNA profile.
While prosecutors did not say when they believe Rivas-Hernandez’s body was put into the car, they said surveillance video shows Burke to be the last person to drive the vehicle. He is seen on video parking the vehicle around the corner from his home on July 29, 2025, before leaving to go on tour.
The car was later towed to a lot; officers discovered the decomposing body on Sept. 8, which would have been Rivas-Hernandez’s 15th birthday.
Burke is scheduled to return to court in May for a preliminary hearing. He is being held without bond.
