Singer D4vd charged with murder of girl, 14, found dismembered in his car

Singer-songwriter, David Burke aka D4vd sits in artist space at Coachella music festival on April 18, 2025 in Indio, Calif. (AP Photo) 2026-04-20T17:10:30Z Los Angeles (AP) — Singer D4vd has been charged with murder in the death of a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered and decomposed body was found in September in his apparently abandoned Tesla, prosecutors said. Friday. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said the 21-year-old D4vd , whose legal name is David Burke, was charged with first-degree murder; lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14; and mutilating a body in the killing of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. She was reported missing by her family in 2024, when she was 13. Authorities say she was 14 when she died. The murder charges included special circumstances — lying in wait, committing crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an investigation — that could carry the death penalty. Prosecutors haven’t announced whether they will seek it. Attorneys for the Houston-born alt-pop singer said he was innocent in a statement released after homicide detectives arrested him on Thursday at a home in Hollywood. “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,” the lawyers said. The long-dead body of Rivas Hernandez was found inside a Tesla that was towed from the Hollywood Hills on Sept. 8, a day after she would have turned 15. Her family had reported her missing from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles. (