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Singer D4vd charged with first-degree murder in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced on Monday that singer D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, has been formally charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
D4vd, 21, was arrested the previous Thursday and held without bail. The charges make him eligible for either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
Prosecutors filed three separate charges: first-degree murder, murder for financial gain, and murdering a witness to a criminal investigation. The case also includes allegations of lewd acts with Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a minor under the age of 14, and the mutilation of a body. Burke is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday. His legal team maintains he is innocent and has pledged to contest the charges.
Who was Celeste Rivas Hernandez
Celeste Rivas Hernandez was a seventh-grader and the daughter of Salvadoran immigrant parents. She was 13 when she ran away from home in 2024 and was reported missing by her family, who lived approximately 75 miles from where her remains were eventually found. She had been due to turn 15 the day after her body was discovered.
According to prosecutors, Celeste visited D4vd’s home in the Hollywood Hills on April 23, 2025. She was never seen alive again. Her decomposed remains were found five months later, in September 2025, inside a bag in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke’s address in Texas. The vehicle had been towed from the Hollywood Hills neighbourhood after residents reported a foul odour, and was sitting in a Hollywood tow yard when authorities were called to investigate the smell.
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The special circumstances prosecutors will argue
The first-degree murder charge carries three special circumstances that elevate its severity. Prosecutors allege D4vd acted with premeditation by lying in wait as Celeste arrived at his home. The financial gain allegation centres on the claim that Burke killed Celeste to protect a music career she was in a position to expose. The third special circumstance, murdering a witness, rests on prosecutors’ assertion that Celeste was a witness to the alleged sexual offences committed against her when she was under 14.
Why the investigation took so long
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell addressed public frustration over the pace of the investigation at Monday’s press conference, noting that the condition of Celeste’s remains significantly complicated efforts to establish the cause of death, and that a substantial gap between her death and discovery meant that evidence had degraded. A grand jury had been hearing evidence since late 2025 before Burke’s arrest last week. His arraignment on Monday marks the formal start of criminal proceedings.
D4vd rose to prominence with viral indie-pop tracks and had accumulated tens of millions of monthly listeners before cancelling his world tour in September 2025, shortly after the discovery of Celeste’s remains. He has not performed publicly since.
