Nancy Dillon
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D4vd on March 9, 2025 in Paris, France. Antoine Flament/Getty Images Platinum-selling artist D4vd has been arrested on suspicion of murder after police in Los Angeles found the severely decomposed body of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez in the trunk of his impounded Tesla on Sept. 8, 2025.
“Detectives from [the] 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 a social media post on Thursday, April 16. “The case will be presented to the District Attorney’s office on Monday for filing consideration.”
The development comes 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.”
The 20-year-old musician, born David Anthony 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 investigators opened the trunk, they found the remains of Celeste Rivas in a black garbage bag. Rivas, 15, was later identified by friends and family as being 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.
The body was so “severely decomposed” that the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office could not distinguish eye color and listed the victim’s 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.
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Celeste’s 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 looks remarkably like Celeste. Burke’s lawyer did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Rolling Stone. 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 family declined to speak with reporters assembled outside their home on Sept. 17. A friend who visited the house described Celeste as sweet and “studious,” saying the teen previously attended Lakeland Village School with her own child. “It’s so sad,” the friend, Rubi Alonso, tells 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 the past few months. 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.
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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.
