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Singer D4vd charged with murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez
21st April, 2026 12:46 AM
Singer D4vd has been charged with murder in the death of a 14-year-old girl who was last known to be alive nearly a year ago and whose dismembered and decomposed body was found in September in his apparently abandoned Tesla, prosecutors said Monday.
The charges revealed key details and were among the first concrete public moves made in a grisly and horrific case that had been under a largely secret investigation in the seven months since the body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said the 21-year-old D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged with first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a body.
The girls’ parents were in court for Burke’s first appearance in the case on Monday.
His lawyers said the evidence would show he was innocent.
Alleged child sex abuse during a career on the rise
Authorities alleged the Houston-born alt-pop singer killed Rivas Hernandez to protect a career on the rise after she threatened to report their sexual relationship. His debut album, “Withered,” was released just two days after they said she was last known to be alive.
She was reported missing by her family in 2024, when she was 13. That was her age when, according to an allegation in a criminal complaint, the singer engaged in continuous sexual abuse of her for at least a year from September 2023 to September 2024. California law penalises abuse of a child under 14 especially harshly.
Authorities, who described her on Monday as a “runaway,” said she was 14 when she was killed with a sharp object on or around April 23, 2025, and was headed to the singer’s house in the Hollywood Hills.
Prosecutors allege Burke mutilated her body about two weeks later.
The murder charges included special circumstances, lying in wait, committing a crime for financial gain and murdering a witness in an investigation, which could carry the death penalty. Prosecutors haven’t announced whether they will seek it.
The witness he is alleged to have killed is Rivas Hernandez herself, who could have given testimony about the sex crime allegations.
Defence says D4vd ‘did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez
Attorneys for Burke said he would be exonerated in a statement released after the charges were announced.
“The actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death,” they said. “We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”
Burke was arrested at a home in Hollywood on Thursday.
