D4vd Charged With ‘Brutal and Horrific’ Murder to Protect Music Career From Underage Sex Probe
Prosecutors say the singer killed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez just two days before the release of his debut album Withered.
Black News 
D4vd has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez in an alleged plot to shield his burgeoning music career from scrutiny into their underage sexual relationship.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman revealed the charges on Monday (April 20), four days after the 21-year-old “Romantic Homicide” singer (David Anthony Burke) was arrested. Hochman said the “brutal and horrific murder” occurred on April 23, 2025 – just two days before the release of D4vd’s debut album Withered, which opened at No. 13 on the Billboard 200.
“Celeste, a 14-year-old at that time, went to Mr. Burke’s house in the Hollywood Hills,” said Hochman during a press conference. “She was never heard from again.”
The decomposed, partial remains of Rivas, a reported runaway from Lake Elsinore, Calif., were found in the front trunk of an impounded Tesla registered to D4vd in September. After police responded to reports of a “foul odor” coming from the car in a Hollywood tow lot, they discovered two black bags containing severed, decomposed body parts that were later identified as Rivas — including a head, torso and limbs.
In addition to first-degree murder, D4vd is charged with having sex with a minor and mutilating a body. His murder charge also has a “special circumstances” enhancement, which makes the maximum sentence death or life in prison without parole. Hochman said his office has not yet determined whether to seek the death penalty.
The “special circumstances” enhancement is tied to D4vd’s alleged motivation for killing Rivas. Prosecutors say Rivas was a witness to a prior crime – that crime being that D4vd, who was 20-years-old at the time, committed “lewd and lascivious sexual acts” with her before she turned 14 – and that the singer murdered her “to maintain his very lucrative music career that Celeste was threatening on that particular night.”
D4vd’s lawyers did not immediately return a request for comment on the charges. Defense attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter said after his arrest last week that they “will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”
“Let us be clear – 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,” added D4vd’s lawyers in their initial statement.
D4vd is currently in custody without bail.
D4vd’s career took off in 2022 after his first single, “Romantic Homicide,” went viral on TikTok and eventually hit No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100. He released Withered after two EPs and an on opening slot on SZA’s blockbuster SOS tour in 2023.
He had been in the midst of a headlining tour when Rivas’ body was discovered in his car. The tour was cut short, and a deluxe version of Withered was shelved. He’s since been dropped by Darkroom/Interscope Records, Sony Music Publishing and The·Team (formerly Wasserman).
