U.S. artist D4vd has been taken into custody on suspicion of being involved in the death of a 14-year-old girl whose decomposed remains were discovered last year in an apparently deserted Tesla linked to him that was removed from the Hollywood Hills, as per the police statement released on Thursday. The 21-year-old alt-pop singer, born in Houston and legally named David Anthony Burke, is currently detained without bail, with the Los Angeles police planning to present the case to the District Attorney’s Office for potential charges on Monday. Defense attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter, representing Burke, asserted his innocence in an email, stating that the evidence would prove he did not commit the alleged murder.
Authorities disclosed that a case would be submitted to the prosecutors at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Monday for review to determine if there is substantial evidence to file charges. The defense team emphasized that Burke had not been indicted by a grand jury or faced any criminal complaints, highlighting that he is being held under suspicion only. This statement marks their first public response to the case, with Burke officially named as a suspect upon his arrest and subsequent detention without bail. The investigation into the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez involved a grand jury in Los Angeles County, with details emerging when Burke’s family contested subpoenas in a Texas court, leading to their order to testify in California.
In a development related to the case, the deceased body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez was discovered on September 8, 2025, a day after what would have been her 15th birthday. Her disappearance was reported by her family in 2024 when she was a 13-year-old seventh grader from Lake Elsinore, approximately 112 kilometers southeast of Los Angeles. Court documents indicated her age as 14 at the time of her death, with details mentioning the condition of her body found inside a 2023 Tesla Model Y, including severed limbs and advanced decomposition. The autopsy findings have been kept confidential by a court order, and no cause of death has been officially disclosed. The artist, amidst a U.S. tour, faced cancellations following widespread reports connecting him to the case after the discovery of the body.