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Singer D4vd, the 21-year-old artist born David Burke, was arrested in Los Angeles on April 16 on suspicion of murder in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose remains were found last September inside a Tesla registered to him.
Authorities say Burke is being held without bail while the case is presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, which will decide whether to file charges. His attorneys say he is innocent and stress that, as of now, no indictment or formal charge has been filed.
A Case That Has Haunted Los Angeles Since September
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The arrest comes more than 7 months after workers at a Hollywood tow yard reported a foul odor coming from an impounded Tesla. Investigators then discovered human remains inside the vehicle.
Authorities later identified the victim as Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a teenage girl from the Lake Elsinore area who had been reported missing in 2024.
Reporting across major outlets agrees on the broad outline: the body was found in Burke’s impounded car, the investigation stretched on for months, and detectives continued building the case long after the discovery became public.
Some details in the public record remain uneven across outlets, which is common in an active homicide investigation. Several reports describe the remains as dismembered, while others are more restrained and emphasize that autopsy details have been sealed.
That makes caution essential. What is firmly established is that the body was found in the Tesla, that the victim had been missing, and that police have now made an arrest after a lengthy review of evidence.
The Legal Distinction That Matters Now
This is the moment when headlines can run ahead of procedure. An arrest on suspicion of murder is a major development, but it is not the same as a filed criminal case, and it is certainly not a conviction.
The Associated Press reported that Burke’s lawyers say the evidence will show he did not cause Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s death.
They also noted that prosecutors were still reviewing the case on Thursday night. Until the District Attorney acts, the case remains in a critical but unresolved stage.
A Rising Music Career Collides With a Gruesome Investigation
The arrest lands with unusual force because Burke is not an obscure suspect. As D4vd, he rose quickly from internet-era breakout to charting artist, propelled by the viral success of “Romantic Homicide” in 2022 and a fast-growing fan base.
Coverage from AP and others notes that the discovery of the body last year derailed his tour and transformed what had been a rising career into one of the most disturbing celebrity-linked criminal investigations in recent memory.
What Comes Next
The next decisive step belongs to prosecutors. If the Los Angeles County District Attorney files charges, the case will move into open court and many of the facts that remain sealed or disputed may finally be tested in public.
For now, the arrest answers one question that had hung over the case for months, whether police believed they had enough to act. It does not answer the hardest question of all, what exactly happened to Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
