Florida-Raised Singer D4vd Arrested in Teen's Dismemberment Murder

Los Angeles police arrested alt-pop singer D4vd on Thursday on suspicion of murder in the killing of a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered, decomposed remains were discovered last year inside his abandoned Tesla in the Hollywood Hills.

The singer, whose legal name is David Burke, 21, was being held without bail following the arrest, according to an LAPD statement. Investigators will present the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office on Monday, police said. The DA's Major Crimes Division is aware of the arrest and will review the evidence before deciding whether to file formal charges.

The victim, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, was a 13-year-old seventh grader living in Lake Elsinore, roughly 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles, when her family reported her missing in 2024. Her remains were discovered Sept. 8 — one day after what would have been her 15th birthday — after her 2023 Tesla Model Y, registered to Burke at a Texas address, was towed from an upscale Hollywood Hills neighborhood where it had sat seemingly abandoned, according to court documents.

Officers searching the vehicle at a tow yard found a cadaver bag "covered with insects and a strong odor of decay," court filings show. Detectives who unzipped the bag observed a decomposed head and torso. Medical examiners subsequently determined that the victim's arms and legs had been severed from her body; dismembered limbs were recovered in a second black bag found beneath the first. No cause of death has been publicly disclosed.

Burke had been under investigation by an LA County grand jury — a proceeding officially secret until Feb. 25, when his mother, father and brother filed a Texas court objection to subpoenas demanding their testimony. He had not been publicly named as a suspect before Thursday's arrest.

The Houston-born artist rose to prominence after his song "Romantic Homicide" went viral on TikTok in 2022, peaking at No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He subsequently signed with Interscope Records and released his debut EP and a follow-up in 2023. When Rivas Hernandez's remains were found, Burke was on tour promoting his first full-length album, "Withered." Remaining North American tour dates, a scheduled Grammy Museum appearance and a planned European tour were later canceled.

Emails to an attorney and publicist previously associated with Burke were not immediately returned. The DA's office is expected to announce a charging decision following Monday's prosecutorial review.

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