Los Angeles County prosecutors formally charged David Anthony Burke — the 21-year-old music star better known as D4vd — with murder on Monday in the killing of a 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose badly decomposed body was found in the trunk of a car in Hollywood last Summer.
Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said D4vd repeatedly sexually abused Hernandez and mutilated her body. She was last seen at the singer’s home in April 2025, according to Hochman, then was “not heard from again.”
“A parent’s nightmare is a situation where your daughter goes out one night and never comes back,” Hochman said.
Prosecutors will file murder with special circumstances charges later on Monday, alleging Burke killed Hernandez for financial gain and because she was a witness to a crime — her own sexual abuse at the singer’s hands. If convicted as charged, Burke would face life in prison without the possibility or parole, or the death penalty.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said authorities had learned in the investigation that Burke was sexually abusing the 14-year-old, but authorities declined to elaborate on the details of how they believe it was linked to her disappearance.
Hochman also said the killing was committed for financial gain, so that Burke could “maintain his very lucrative musical career,” which Hernandez posed a threat too.
Burke is expected to appear in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Monday afternoon.
Burke was arrested by Los Angeles police late last Thursday at a residence in Hollywood near Sunset Blvd. He surrendered after a phalanx of heavily armed officers stormed the street. Burke surrendered without incident and has denied all wrongdoing through his attorneys.
“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,” his legal team of Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter said in a statement.
Hochman said there is “physical, forensic and digital” evidence tying the singer to the crime.
Hernandez was reported missing in Riverside County last summer. Her body was found in the trunk of a Tesla at a Hollywood tow yard on Sept. 8, 2025, and news quickly surfaced that the vehicle was registered to Burke. The ascendant singer — whose music features in the wildly popular video game “Fortnite” and who has collaborated with Kali Uchis and 21 Savage — had just started a national tour in support of his debut album, “Withered,” when reports surfaced of his potential link to the teen’s death.
As Burke canceled his tour, investigators began meticulously building a case. In November, The Times reported that L.A. County prosecutors had convened a secret grand jury to collect evidence in connection with Hernandez’s killing. Investigative grand juries cannot return indictments against defendants, but they are often used to enshrine evidence and subpoena witnesses for a future criminal proceeding. Earlier this year, a member of D4vd’s entourance, Neo Langston, was arrested in Montana after he attempted to avoid appearing before the L.A. grand jury.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office was barred from revealing a cause of death in the case, but court records made public in February said Hernandez’s limbs were severed from her body when she was found.
Hochman said prosecutors will make court filings that will allow the coroner to release the details of the girl’s death. The medical examiner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
