Singer D4vd pleads not guilty to murder in death of 14-year-old Celeste
Rivas Hernandez
[April 21, 2026]
By ANDREW DALTON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Singer D4vd pleaded not guilty Monday to a murder
charge 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
the entertainer's apparently abandoned Tesla.
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 Celeste Rivas
Hernandez was found dead.
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 Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
said. A defense lawyer entered not guilty pleas to all counts on behalf
of Burke, who made his first court appearance Monday. He appeared behind
glass in a custody area, dressed in black. A judge said he would
continue to be held without bail.
The girl's parents appeared at the hearing. They looked down as they
entered the courtroom and sat in the audience. They did not speak to
reporters outside court.
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 authorities 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 allegations 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 penalizes abuse of
a child under 14 especially harshly.
Authorities, who described her Monday as a “runaway,” said Rivas
Hernandez was 14 when she was killed with a sharp object on or around
April 23, 2025, a day she was at Burke's house in the Hollywood Hills.
Prosecutors allege Burke mutilated her body about two weeks later.
The murder charges include special circumstances — lying in wait,
committing crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an
investigation — that could carry the death penalty. Prosecutors haven’t
announced whether they will seek it.
The witness Burke is alleged to have killed is Rivas Hernandez herself,
who could have given testimony about the sex crime allegations.
Defense says D4vd ‘did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez’
“We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder
Celeste Rivas Hernandez,” lead defense attorney Blair Berk said in
court. “We would like to have the evidence come into the light of day.”
Berk told the judge that after media reports of months of secret grand
jury proceedings, she would like a public preliminary hearing to take
place as soon as possible so a judge can decide whether there is enough
evidence for trial.
Burke is entitled under California law to have the evidentiary hearing
within 10 court days of his arraignment. Nearly all defendants waive
their right to have it happen that fast, but he didn’t. A hearing to
work out what will happen next was scheduled for Thursday.
“We’ll be very happy to put on the evidence that we’ve collected," said
Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman, the lead prosecutor.
A missing child and the grisly discovery of a body
The case is a “a parent’s nightmare,” Los Angeles County District
Attorney Nathan Hochman said at a news conference Monday announcing the
charges.
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LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell walks past an image of Celeste Rivas
Hernandez Monday, April 20, 2026, in Los Angeles after a press
conference regarding the case of singer D4vd, who was charged on
suspicion of killing the 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was
found in his car. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The long-dead body of Rivas Hernandez was found inside a Tesla that
was towed from the Hollywood Hills on Sept. 8, when Burke was on
tour in support of his album. It was a day after she would have
turned 15.
Her family had reported her missing from her hometown of Lake
Elsinore, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.
The singer had been under investigation by an LA County grand jury
looking into the death. The probe was officially secret, but its
existence — and Burke's designation as its target — was revealed in
February when his mother, father and brother objected in a Texas
court to subpoenas demanding they testify. The 2023 Tesla Model Y
was registered in the singer’s name at their address, according to
court filings. Authorities did not publicly acknowledge him as a
suspect until his arrest Thursday.
Police investigators searching the Tesla in a tow yard found a
cadaver bag “covered with insects and a strong odor of decay,” court
documents said. Detectives partially unzipped the bag and found a
head and torso.
Investigators from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office
removed the bag and “discovered the arms and legs had been severed
from the body,” according to court documents. A second black bag was
found under the first, and dismembered body parts were inside it. No
cause of death has been publicly revealed, and police got a judge to
block the release details of the autopsy. The court order was
expected to be lifted after the charges.
“I had the chance to meet with some of the family members of Celeste
and their grief is incalculable as to what happened to their
daughter,” Hochman said.
D4vd was a social media-savvy singer making breakthroughs
D4vd, pronounced “David,” gained popularity among Gen Z for his
blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in
2022 with the hit “Romantic Homicide,” which peaked at No. 4 on
Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He then signed with
Darkroom and Interscope Records and released his debut EP “Petals to
Thorns” and a follow-up, “The Lost Petals,” in 2023.
The Associated Press confirmed that D4vd was dropped by Interscope
last year.
When the body was discovered, the singer continued his North
American tour, but when reports of his possible involvement spread
widely, he canceled the final two shows and a European tour that was
to follow.
On April 11, about two weeks before the killing, he made his debut
appearance at the Coachella music festival, where he talked to the
AP.
“I was such an internet kid. The internet is really what I claim as
my home,” he said. “My neighborhood was Instagram and the society
was the internet.”
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AP Music Writer Maria Sherman in New York contributed to this
report.
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