Platinum-selling artist D4vd was arrested Thursday on suspicion of murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, seven months after Los Angeles police found the teen’s dismembered and severely decomposed body in the trunk of his impounded Tesla.
Sources at the singer’s Hollywood Hills home told Rolling Stone that D4vd, born David Anthony Burke, was “completely cooperative” when he was taken into custody. Separately, law enforcement sources said detectives had obtained a probable-cause warrant and arrested Burke shortly after 4:30 p.m.
The California Post obtained video showing heavily armed LAPD officers leading Burke away with his hands behind his back. He was still being booked when police announced his arrest on social media.
Burke’s defense lawyers quickly issued a statement saying he was not a killer. “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,” lawyers Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter said in the statement sent to Rolling Stone. “There has been no indictment returned by any grand jury in this case and no criminal complaint filed. David has only been detained under suspicion. We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”
Burke was out of state on a national tour when his dented 2023 Tesla Model Y was towed from the affluent Bird Streets neighborhood of the Hollywood Hills on Sept. 5, 2025. The tow yard called police, saying the impounded vehicle was “emanating a foul odor and attracting flies,” according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by Rolling Stone.
When detectives opened the trunk, they found Rivas’ decomposed head and torso inside a black cadaver bag “covered with insects and a strong odor of decay,” court documents previously obtained by Rolling Stone revealed. Detectives unzipped a second bag underneath and discovered Rivas’s severed arms and legs inside, the filings said.
“Detectives from Los Angeles Police Department, Robbery-Homicide Division have arrested David Burke, a 21-year-old resident of Los Angeles, for the murder of Celeste Rivas. Burke is being held without bail,” police said in their social media post on Thursday, April 16. “The case will be presented to the District Attorney’s office on Monday for filing consideration.”
The arrest came after authorities kept a tight lid on the investigation for months and even got a court order barring the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner from releasing Rivas’ autopsy findings. The ME’s office vocally opposed the security hold, saying it precluded the agency from “serving our community with full transparency.”
Witnesses were summoned to testify before a secret grand jury in downtown Los Angeles, but it wasn’t until Burke’s parents and brother challenged their subpoenas in their home state of Texas that sealed documents were finally made public, confirming Burke was the “target” of a murder probe. The documents described Burke as someone who “may be involved in having committed” a crime identified as “one count of murder.”
The D.A.’s office issued a statement Thursday evening saying it was “aware of the arrest.” “The case is expected to be presented to the Major Crimes Division, at which point prosecutors will review the facts and evidence to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to file charges,” the statement sent to Rolling Stone said. “At this time, additional information is not available. We will share an update on Monday once a filing decision has been made.”
After the grisly discovery last September, Rivas was quickly identified by friends and family as a missing teen from Lake Elsinore, a city about 75 miles southeast of Los Angeles. According to online fliers, her family had reported her missing in February 2024 and again two months later in April of 2024.
Her body was so “severely decomposed” that the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office could not distinguish eye color and listed her weight as 71 pounds. “She appears to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period of time before being found,” the medical examiner’s office said in an online report. The cause of the teen’s death was listed as “deferred” at the time.
Rivas’ mother reportedly told TMZ that her daughter had been dating someone named “David” before her death. Photos shared online by people who’ve followed Burke’s career appear to show him with a girl who looked remarkably like Celeste. In another twist, Celeste had a tattoo on her right index finger that read, “Shhh…,” the medical examiner said. A Getty Images photo showed Burke with a similar tattoo.
The Rivas Hernandez family declined to speak with reporters assembled outside their home on Sept. 17, 2025. A friend who visited the house described Rivas as sweet and “studious,” saying the teen previously attended Lakeland Village School with her own child. “It’s so sad,” the friend, Rubi Alonso, told Rolling Stone. “She was very beautiful.”
Sources in the neighborhood where the Tesla was last parked told Rolling Stone the vehicle was spotted in various places over several months leading up to the discovery. The sedan was left in its final spot on Bluebird Avenue for at least three weeks, and before that, it was seen parked a few blocks south as far back as the end of May, the sources allege. “It moved around,” one source said. “It’s chilling.”
When the body was first discovered, a law enforcement source confirmed the Tesla was registered to Burke at an address in Hempstead, Texas. Burke was notified of the investigation, and a spokesperson said at the time that he was “cooperating” with authorities. He continued to perform shows on his Withered tour uninterrupted, up until his Sept. 17 show in Seattle was canceled after the missing teen was positively identified. At a show in Minneapolis on Sept. 9, Burke tossed Labubu toys to the crowd.
Though Burke seemed unfazed leading up to the victim’s identification, the fashion companies Crocs and Hollister pulled back on a campaign that featured the musician modeling a collaboration between the popular brands. “We are aware of this developing story. With respect to the current situation, we have removed campaign content featuring D4vd while the investigation continues,” the brands said in a joint statement sent to Footwear News.
Born in New York but raised in Texas, Burke enjoyed an impressive rise over the last few years. He broke through in 2022 with his hit singles “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me,” which garnered significant traction on TikTok and claim more than a billion streams on Spotify. He released his debut EP, Petals to Thorns, in May 2023.
Burke’s debut studio album, Withered, was released in April 2025 by Interscope. The album launched at Number 13 on the Billboard 200 and includes the single “Crashing,” featuring Kali Uchis. After Rivas was identified as the girl found in the Tesla’s trunk, Uchis clarified on Instagram that she wasn’t “friends” with Burke and was working to pull their song off streaming services amid the investigation.
Matt Collyer of The Planet Smashers