Singer D4vd Arrested on Murder Suspicion After Teen's Body Found in His Tesla
Alt-pop singer D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of a 14-year-old girl whose decomposed and dismembered body was discovered last year in his apparently abandoned Tesla. The arrest was announced by Los Angeles police on Thursday, with the 21-year-old Houston-born artist being held without bail as authorities investigate the killing of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
Investigation and Legal Proceedings
Police stated that investigators will present a case to prosecutors at the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office on Monday. The office confirmed it is aware of the arrest and that its Major Crimes Division will review the evidence to determine whether charges should be filed. D4vd had been under investigation by an LA County grand jury looking into Rivas Hernandez's death, a probe that was officially secret but revealed on February 25 when his family members filed an objection to subpoenas in a Texas court.
Emails seeking comment from an attorney and a publicist who have previously worked with D4vd were not immediately returned, and his representatives have not responded to multiple previous requests for comment on the case from The Associated Press.
Discovery of the Body
The body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found in a Tesla on September 8, a day after she would have turned 15. She was reported missing in 2024 from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles, when she was a 13-year-old seventh grader. Authorities list her age as 14 at the time of her death in court documents.
According to court filings, the 2023 Tesla Model Y was registered in D4vd's name at the Texas address of his subpoenaed family members. It had been towed from an upscale neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills where it had been sitting, seemingly abandoned. Police investigators searching the Tesla in a tow yard found a cadaver bag "covered with insects and a strong odor of decay," and "detectives partially unzipped the bag and observed a decomposed 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." A second black bag was found under the first, containing dismembered body parts. No cause of death has been publicly revealed, and authorities had not publicly named D4vd as a suspect prior to the arrest.
D4vd's Career and Impact
D4vd, pronounced "David," gained popularity among Generation Z fans 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, releasing his debut EP "Petals to Thorns" and a follow-up, "The Lost Petals," in 2023.
When the body was discovered, D4vd had been on tour in support of his first full-length album, "Withered." Later, the last two North American shows, in San Francisco and Los Angeles, along with a scheduled performance at LA's Grammy Museum, were canceled, as was the European tour that was to have begun in Norway.
