Singer d4vd charged with first-degree murder in connection with teen found dead in his Tesla

Originally Published: 20 APR 26 03:00 ET

Updated: 20 APR 26 13:25 ET

By Alaa Elassar, CNN

(CNN) — Singer d4vd is being charged in connection with the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, seven months after the girl’s decomposed body was discovered in his apparently abandoned Tesla, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

The 21-year-old singer was arrested Thursday, seven months after the young girl’s decomposed body was discovered in his apparently abandoned Tesla. Her body was found more than a year after she was reported missing in Southern California.

D4vd is charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances, continuous sexual acts, lewd and lascivious sexual acts with an individual under 14 years old, and mutilating human remains, LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference.

Prosecutors had said the case was being reviewed by the office’s Major Crimes Division, which was tasked with determining whether the known facts and available evidence meet the threshold for criminal charges.

Celeste’s family have largely stayed out of public view since her body was discovered.

“The Rivas Hernandez family is committed to ensuring that Celeste’s voice is heard and her memory is honored throughout this process,” Patrick Steinfeld, the attorney for the family, said.

Meanwhile, d4vd’s attorneys said they intend to “vigorously defend David’s innocence,” adding the singer “has only been detained under suspicion.”

“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,” attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter said in a statement.

“There has been no indictment returned by any grand jury in this case and no criminal complaint filed,” the statement said.

Court documents released in February indicate a grand jury has been investigating the singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, in connection with Celeste’s death. The filings do not detail what role authorities suspect he may have played in her death, but identify him as a “target” of the probe who may have been “involved.”

Victim was reported missing three times

Monday comes nearly two years after the third – and final – time Celeste was reported missing by her family, capping a series of urgent pleas in early 2024 as loved ones and friends grew increasingly alarmed about the seventh grader’s safety and whereabouts.

She was 13 at the time – a teenager remembered in photos for her soft smile and thick, curly hair.

In September 2025, a day after what would have been her 15th birthday, her dismembered and decomposed body was discovered in the trunk of a Tesla registered to d4vd while he was in Minneapolis on a world tour promoting his debut album, “Withered.”

Authorities have not established a clear timeline for when Celeste was killed, though court records indicate she was 14 at the time of her death. Photographs obtained by CNN suggest she was alive almost a year after she was first reported missing.

Neighbors say the car appeared abandoned, parked on a street not far from the Hollywood Hills home where d4vd had been living. It was later towed, and an employee at the yard alerted police after noticing a strong, foul odor coming from the vehicle.

Authorities arrested the singer on April 16 on suspicion of killing Celeste, taking him into custody at a residence in the Hollywood Hills just over a mile from the tow yard where the girl’s body was found inside his car.

He is being held in jail without bail.

Clues point to connection between Celeste and d4vd

Clues pointing to a connection between Celeste and d4vd surfaced even before she was reported missing. In January 2024, the two appeared together in a livestream on Twitch, joking and talking into the early morning hours before d4vd, laughing, said: “Delete everything.”

Sometime between January and March 2024, the singer was photographed stepping out of a black Tesla just blocks from Celeste’s home. A local teenager later posted the images to TikTok. CNN geolocated and chronolocated the photos to verify when and where they were taken.

In June 2024, Celeste was photographed backstage at a sold-out show d4vd performed at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles. A private investigator later uncovered additional images appearing to show the two together in late December 2024 and early January 2025.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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