Twenty-one-year-old singer David Burke, professionally known as D4vd, has been charged with the murder, sexual assault and dismemberment of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

Hernandez’s decomposing body was discovered in the front trunk of the singer’s Tesla a week after it had been towed and impounded in West Hollywood on Sept. 5, 2025.

A New York Times report mentioned that a foul odor on Sept. 8, 2025 at the Los Angeles impound was brought to the attention of police, leading them to Hernandez’s remains and starting an investigation that would take seven months to solve.

Hernandez, who had been reported missing twice prior to a final report made in April 2024, was 13 when she disappeared for the last time. However, authorities believe that her death occurred later, as she was last seen alive entering the singer’s house on April 23, 2025. 

According to CNN, prosecutors allege that D4vd had been sexually abusing Hernandez for months and that he killed her after she threatened to expose him. 

A statement from the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office said the department received a court order on Nov. 21, 2025 from the Los Angeles Police Department blocking the release of any details or records associated with the case to the public “until further notice,” as the investigation remained ongoing.

While the LAPD wanted to keep the case findings a secret, the medical examiner’s office had determined the cause and manner of Hernandez’s death by Dec. 9, 2025. 

During his arraignment on April 20, D4vd pleaded not guilty to all charges, including first degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child and the mutilation of human remains.

The 26-page report was made available to the public on April 22, revealing that Hernandez’s body had sustained “multiple penetrating injuries,” including wounds to the torso that had punctured her liver and one on the left side of her chest. 

While the report did not determine the time and place of her death, it revealed that Hernandez’s body had been dismembered and had undergone “severe postmortem changes.”

The April 23 hearing revealed that D4vd possessed “a significant amount of child sexual abuse material” on his phone, which prosecutors said could slow down the case. According to ABC7, “only about 30% of all the evidence has been turned over to the defense.” 

A search warrant was authorized on the singer’s Hollywood Hills home after the discovery of Hernandez’s remains, during which “several items of evidence were recovered.” Following the overnight search, D4vd, who had been on tour since August 2025, immediately canceled the remaining performances of his tour’s U.S. and European legs. 

D4vd had been on tour to promote his debut studio album, “Withered.” According to the New York Post, the singer began streaming games like Fortnite on YouTube and later pivoted to music to avoid copyright strikes on his videos.

After going viral on TikTok, he released his debut EP, signed a record deal and was later invited as the opener for SZA’s SOS Tour in 2023. As quickly as the singer gained momentum in his career, however, it came to a screeching halt.

In September 2025, following the news of unknown remains being found in D4vd’s car, online critique of his lyrics and music videos that often featured dark, gory imagery and themes began to spread, as fans quickly speculated that the singer had been leaving clues about the murder in his music all along. 

The music video for his song “Rehab” has recently garnered speculation following Hernandez’s autopsy results being made public. 

In the anime-style video, a bloodied version of the singer uses sharp claws to cut off a female character’s arm and impale her stomach. Comments on the video said this imagery resembles the way Hernandez’s body was revealed to be found in the autopsy report.

In a resurfaced interview with Mahogany Sessions, D4vd explained the meaning behind the music video for his song, “Romantic Homicide,” which features him as a detective and an evil version of himself wearing a blindfold, who has emerged to commit crimes the detective must solve.

Hernandez, who grew up in Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, LA, was killed a day after what would have been her 15th birthday, according to CNN. She and D4vd appeared together on one of his Twitch livestreams in March 2024 and she was also seen backstage at one of his Los Angeles shows in June 2024.

“Celeste was a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance,” Hernandez’s family told CNN. Kayleigh Cortez, a neighbor of Hernandez, described her as “a beautiful little girl” with “big, beautiful curls.” 

D4vd was arrested on April 16 and is currently being held without bail in a Los Angeles jail. As he awaits sentencing, his charges carry the possibilities of the death penalty or life in prison without parole. 

The singer has since been quietly dropped from his label Interscope Records.

Artists who have previously collaborated with D4vd have also begun to remove their songs from streaming platforms, according to Rolling Stone. YouTube has also demonetized D4vd’s account as calls for streaming platforms to take down his music continue. Epic Games, the video game company behind Fortnite, has also started confirming refunds for D4vd cosmetics to any player who has requested one.