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David Anthony Burke, aka D4vd, 21, has been charged with first-degree murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez and mutilating a body

Burke additionally, is charged with performing lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14

Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s body was found in a Tesla towed from the Hollywood Hills on September 8 last year, a day after she would have turned 15

Rivas Hernandez was 13 when ran away from home in January 2024 and was not seen until police discovered her remains

By then he head was partially skeletonized and missing an eye, furthermore the drugs Benzodiazepines and Methamphetamine were detected in her liver.

Prosecutors allege she’d been subjected to continuous sexual abuse by Burke for at least a year from September 2023 to September 2024, he was was 19 when the abuse began

Prosecutors allegedly Burke killed Rivas Hernandez when she threatened to report they had a sexual relationship that began when she was 13 and he feared it would ruin his rising career

A criminal complaint alleges he killed her with a sharp object and dismembered the body about two weeks later

Singer David Anthony Burke, aka D4vd, [photo], 21, has now been charged with first-degree murder and mutilating a body. Burke additionally, is charged with performing lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14

A 14-year-old girl found dead in the trunk of singer D4vd’s car was stabbed to death and then dismembered, according to the Los Angeles coroner.
An autopsy report revealed Celeste Rivas Hernandez sustained knife wounds to her liver and her chest.
The teen’s body was found in a Tesla belonging to D4vd, real name David Anthony Burke, in September last year.
The harrowing report reveals that her ring and pinky finger had also been mutilated.
Burke is charged with first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a body.
His defense lawyer entered not guilty pleas to all counts during his first court appearance Monday. 
Rivas Hernandez’s remains were discovered in Burke’s apparently abandoned vehicle on September 8, 2025.
By the time investigators found her, the teen’s head was partially skeletonized and missing an eye, the autopsy details. Coroners also said they detected Benzodiazepines and Methamphetamine in her liver. 

Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s body was found in a Tesla towed from the Hollywood Hills on September 8 last year, a day after she would have turned 15. The Autopsy report revealed she was stabbed to death then dismembered

Celeste Rivas Hernandez sustained knife wounds to her liver and her chest, according to the Los Angeles coroner’s report.
The 14-year-old girl whose dismembered remains was dead in the trunk of singer D4vd’s car was stabbed to death and then dismembered, according to the Los Angeles coroner.
The teenager was 13 when her family reported her missing in January 2024.
She was not seen again until her body was found September last year, inside an abandoned Tesla SUV. The vehicle was registered to David Anthony Burke, [D4vd], at a Texas address.

Celeste’s mother, who reported her teen missing three different times that same year, said her daughter was dating a guy she never met, named David, now believed to be David Anthony Burke, aka D4vd

The harrowing report reveals that her ring and pinky finger had also been mutilated.
Burke is charged with first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a body.
His defense lawyer entered not guilty pleas to all counts during his first court appearance Monday.
Rivas Hernandez’s remains were discovered in Burke’s apparently abandoned vehicle on September 8, 2025.
By the time investigators found her, the teen’s head was partially skeletonized and missing an eye, the autopsy details. According to the autopsy report, Celeste’s body weighed just 71 pounds when it was found dismembered in the front trunk of the Tesla.
One stab wound was on her “right abdomen with (an) injury to (her) liver,” and a second stab wound was on her “left chest”, the L.A. County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
Coroners also said they detected Benzodiazepines and Methamphetamine in her liver.

Tesla SUV in which the dismembered, decomposing body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez was discovered on September 8, 2025, was towed away from the public impound lot. Rivas had been deceased in the vehicle for ‘an extended period of time before being found’ – ME 

Celeste Rivas Hernandez was last reported missing by her family was in January 2024, when she was 13.
Prosecutors say she then fell victim to continuous sexual abuse by Burke for at least a year from September 2023 to September 2024.
Burke allegedly killed Rivas Hernandez to protect a career on the rise.
Prosecutors allege he killed Rivas Hernandez because she threatened to report they had a sexual relationship that began when she was 13 years old and he feared it would ruin his rising career.
A criminal complaint alleges he killed her with a sharp object and dismembered the body about two weeks later.
The teenager’s mother, who reported her missing three different times that same year, said her daughter was dating a guy she never met, named David.

The family said Rivas Hernandez had a distinctive ‘Shhh…’ tattoo on her right index finger. An autopsy report confirmed the remains found in the Tesla had a matching tattoo [image], on the finger

The pair were rumored to have shared matching ‘Sshhh’ tattoos on their right index fingers.
The autopsy report confirmed that Rivas Hernandez did have the tattoo. Photographs of Burke also show that he has the same markings on his finger.
Authorities described Rivas Hernandez as a ‘runaway’ at the time she was killed with a sharp object on or around April 23, 2025, when she was allegedly at Burke’s house in the Hollywood Hills.
Prosecutors allege Burke mutilated her body about two weeks later. 
The autopsy report states that an investigator found her dismembered arms and legs in a trash bag under her body in the trunk of the car.

On April 16, 2026, LAPD officers clad in tactical gear and carrying rifles raided the Hollywood Hills mansion where Burke is currently renting after abandoning his old abode when the killing allegedly happened

Burke was arrested on murder charges and taken away in cuffs

The murder charges include special circumstances – lying in wait, committing crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an investigation – that could carry the death penalty. Prosecutors have not announced whether they will seek it.
‘We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez,’ lead defense attorney Blair Berk said in court Monday. ‘We would like to have the evidence come into the light of day.’
Berk told the judge that after media reports of months of secret grand jury proceedings, she would like a public preliminary hearing to take place as soon as possible so a judge can decide whether there is enough evidence for trial.

Charged with the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, Burke watches from the defendant’s box as his attorneys Blair Berk and Marilyn Bednarski address court during his arraignment at LA’s Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on April 20, 2026. He pled not guilty to all counts

Burke is entitled under California law to have the evidentiary hearing within 10 court days of his arraignment and has insisted on sticking to the time frame. Nearly all defendants waive their right to have the next hearing so fast.
He is scheduled to appear in court again on Thursday. 
Rivas Hernandez’s remains were discovered in September 2025 after a Tesla Model Y, which was registered to Burke’s Texas address was impounded in Los Angeles. 
The vehicle had sat on a public street for more than 72 hours and was seemingly abandoned, according to the LAPD.
Employees at the Hollywood Tow yard called police after they noticed a stench coming from the vehicle. 

Rivas Hernandez was 13 when ran away from home in January 2024. In the criminal complaint prosecutors allege she’d been subjected to continuous sexual abuse by Burke for at least a year from September 2023 to September 2024. He was was 19 when the abuse began

Friends who revealed that Burke and Rivas Hernandez, [photo], always appeared together, believed she was older – at least 19

Investigators searched the Tesla and found a cadaver bag ‘covered with insects and a strong odor of decay,’ according to the court filings.
‘Detectives partially unzipped the bag and observed a decomposed head and torso.’
Investigators from the the Los Angeles medical examiner’s office then removed the bag and ‘discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body,’ according to the court documents.  
A second black bag was found under the first, also containing dismembered body parts.
The victim, adjudged to be a young female was wearing black leggings, a tube top, a yellow metal chain bracelet and stud earrings when the gruesome discovery was made.

Shortly after police raided the $20,000 a month rental in the Hollywood Hills where Burke had been staying last year and seized a computer, the musician broke he lease and moved out

The coroner determined that the victim later determined to be Rivas Hernandez had been deceased in the vehicle for ‘an extended period of time before being found’. 
Neighbors said the Tesla had been moved several times over the preceding three months before it was finally abandoned on Bluebird Avenue in the Hollywood Hills. 
Last September, LAPD obtained a warrant to search the rented $20,000-a-month home that Burke had been staying at in Hollywood Hills. Officers seized a computer from the residence.
Shortly after the police raid Burke broke his lease and moved out.
According to the District Attorney’s office, “This murder was committed for financial gain, as the evidence will show in court. The financial gain was for Mr. Burke to maintain his very lucrative musical career that Celeste was threatening.”
The 21-year-old musician who denies all charges, faces a maximum sentence of life, without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, if convicted as charged.