Dismembered Body in a Tesla: Why Alt-Pop Star D4vd Is Facing Murder Charges Today

Alt-pop singer D4vd faces possible murder charges in Los Angeles on Monday after prosecutors reviewed evidence linking him to the death of 14-year-old Californian girl Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose dismembered body was found in the boot of his Tesla more than seven months ago.

The news came after a year and a half of escalating concern around Rivas, who was reported missing three times by her family in early 2024 before vanishing for good. Her remains were discovered in September 2025, a day after what would have been her 15th birthday, in a car registered to the musician — real name David Anthony Burke — while he was on a world tour stop in Minneapolis promoting his debut album 'Withered.'

Burke, 21, was arrested on 16 April on suspicion of killing the teenager and is currently being held without bail. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has passed the case to its Major Crimes Division, a move that signals the seriousness with which prosecutors are treating the allegations, even as they publicly insist no charging decision has yet been made.

'At this time, additional information is not available,' the district attorney's office told CNN in a written statement on Friday. 'We will share an update on Monday once a filing decision has been made.'

How the D4vd Case Reached Prosecutors

Celeste's disappearance did not begin as a high-profile case linked to an alt-pop star but as the kind of missing child report that too often fades from local news. The seventh-grader, remembered in family photographs for her soft smile and cloud of curly hair, was only 13 when relatives first contacted police. By the third report in early 2024, loved ones were openly alarmed about her safety and the company she was keeping.

Authorities have not yet set out a clear timeline for when she was killed. Court records suggest she was 14 at the time of her death, and photographs obtained by CNN indicate she was alive for almost a year after she was first reported missing. That troubling gap between paperwork and reality, and between when adults began raising the alarm and when the state appears to have lost track of her, now hangs over the case.

Neighbours later told investigators that the black Tesla linked to D4vd had been parked for some time on a street not far from the Hollywood Hills home where he had been living. It appeared abandoned. The car was eventually towed and it was only then, in the impersonal surroundings of a tow yard, that an employee noticed a strong smell coming from the boot and alerted police.

Inside, officers discovered Celeste's decomposed and dismembered body. By that point, Burke was more than 1,500 miles away, performing in Minneapolis on his Withered tour.

What Ties Alt-pop Star D4vd to Celeste Rivas

Long before anyone opened the Tesla's boot, small, unsettling clues began to emerge that placed Celeste and the rising alt-pop artist in the same orbit.

In January 2024, the pair appeared together on a Twitch livestream, joking into the early hours. At one point, Burke, laughing, told viewers, 'Delete everything.' The meaning of that remark is now likely to be examined by prosecutors and defence lawyers alike, though on its own it proves very little.

Sometime between January and March that year, Burke was photographed stepping out of a black Tesla just a few blocks from Celeste's home. A local teenager later uploaded the images to TikTok. CNN says it has geolocated and timed the images to verify where and when they were taken.

By June 2024, Celeste was photographed backstage at a sold-out D4vd show at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles. A private investigator later found what appeared to be additional photos of the two together in late December 2024 and early January 2025, suggesting an ongoing connection rather than a single brief encounter.

Those fragments — a livestream, a handful of fan-shot pictures and backstage images — do not, in themselves, establish criminal responsibility. But they do confirm proximity and familiarity, which is why they feature prominently in court filings and public reporting.

Court documents released in February reveal that a grand jury has been investigating Burke in connection with Celeste's death. He is explicitly identified as a 'target' of that probe who may have been 'involved,' though the filings stop short of detailing what role investigators believe he played.

His legal team insists the attention is misplaced. In a joint statement, attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter said they intend to 'vigorously defend David's innocence', stressing that he 'has only been detained under suspicion.'

'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,' they said, pointing out that 'there has been no indictment returned by any grand jury in this case and no criminal complaint filed.'

For Celeste's family, who have largely stayed away from cameras since her body was found, Monday's announcement represents a grim milestone rather than closure. Their lawyer, Patrick Steinfeld, said relatives plan to attend the district attorney's news conference.

'The Rivas Hernandez family is committed to ensuring that Celeste's voice is heard and her memory is honoured throughout this process,' he said.

For now, much remains unconfirmed, and key details — how Celeste died, who was present, when her body was placed in the Tesla — are still either sealed in evidence files or not yet established at all. Until prosecutors lay out their case, all public allegations against d4vd should be treated with caution and, in legal terms at least, with a presumption of innocence.a