Trigger Warning: The article contains graphic details of child abuse and murder. Reader discretion is advised.
American singer-songwriter D4vd is being prosecuted in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, after she allegedly threatened to reveal information that would “end his career.” David Anthony Burke, known by his pen name D4vd, is being charged with “first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14, and mutilating a dead body.”
The Romantic Homicide singer’s lawyers have stated that the accused is “not guilty and did not cause the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.” Celeste was reported missing on April 5, 2024, after which her remains were found in D4vd’s Tesla on Sept. 8, 2025.
A resurfaced clip of D4vd shows him with Celeste on stream where he tells the mods to DELETE all VODs and clips after he ends the stream 👀 pic.twitter.com/qK4aHsRv5B
— giddy (@sogiddy) April 24, 2026
Prosecutors have alleged that Hernandez’s decomposing corpse, cut into pieces and placed in two bags, was found in the front trunk of an impounded Tesla registered under the singer’s name. Evidence suggests that D4vd met Celeste when she was just 11 and began sexually abusing her when she was just 13.
Neighbor claims D4vd (20) and Celeste Rivas (15) lived together in the house as a couple police searched it and collected evidence after discovering her body in his trunk.
“They were pretty quiet,” he said. “I never saw police there, and I didn’t hear them partying or… pic.twitter.com/qWcu5lQH4e
— Rain Drops Media (@Raindropsmedia1) September 25, 2025
According to TMZ, D4vd ordered an Uber for Celeste Rivas Hernandez on April 23, 2025, to pick her up at her parents’ house in Lake Elsinore, CA, and bring her to his Hollywood Hills home. Prosecutors claim that once Celeste arrived at the location, the singer stabbed her to death and “stood by while she bled out.” The singer then ordered a shovel from Home Depot the next day. However, it’s unclear what he used it for.
The prosecutors have further alleged that one week later, on May 1, D4vd ordered two chainsaws from Amazon. Four days later, he then ordered a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags and a blue, inflatable pool. All of the purchases were made under the name Victoria Mendez.
The prosecution claims that the singer placed Hernandez’s body in the inflatable pool in an attempt to contain the spread of blood in the garage. That said, it’s unclear as of writing what the singer did with the body for a week. Prosecutors further claim that he then used the chainsaw to dismember Celeste Rivas’s body, placing the remains into two bags. He allegedly even amputated the 14-year-old’s left hand ring and pinky finger since Celeste had the singer’s name tattooed on her ring finger.
After Celeste’s parents first reported her missing, authorities contacted David Burke in connection with the case after finding the singer’s numbers in her cellphone records. However, Burke stated that he had just met her once and wasn’t aware that she was a minor.
The prosecution has claimed that D4vd and Celeste were “travelling as a couple” in 2024, across parts of Las Vegas and London. Various text messages and explicit images suggest that the two were engaged in a sexual relationship. Celeste was allegedly jealous of the singer’s relationship with other women. She threatened him that she would “disclose damaging information about her relationship with [him] to end his career and destroy his life,” which led to the singer’s “premeditated plan to cover up a murder.”
