April 17, 2026 — 11:03am
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Los Angeles: Singer D4vd has been arrested on suspicion of killing a 14-year-old girl whose decomposed body was found last year in an apparently abandoned Tesla registered to him that was towed from the Hollywood Hills, police said on Thursday.
Los Angeles police in a brief statement said the 21-year-old Houston-born alt-pop singer, whose legal name is David Burke, was being held without bail. Police said investigators would present a case to the District Attorney’s Office on Monday for consideration of charges.
US singer D4vd and tape around his impounded black Tesla (right).Getty Images/ABC US
The singer had been under investigation by an LA County grand jury looking into the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. The probe was officially secret, but its existence – and the designation of Burke as the target of the investigation – was revealed on February 25 when his mother, father and brother filed an objection in a Texas court to subpoenas demanding they testify.
Defence lawyers Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter said via email that they would vigorously defend their client’s innocence: “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.
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“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.”
Police said investigators would present a case to prosecutors at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Monday. The office said in its own statement that it was aware of the arrest and its Major Crimes Division would review the case to determine whether there was enough evidence to file charges.
In September 2025, a vehicle registered under Burke’s name was towed from the Hollywood Hills to an impound yard following a complaint from a member of the public that it had been abandoned for more than 72 hours. The singer was away on a national tour at the time, promoting his first full-length album Withered, which was released in April 2025
A few days later, police were reportedly called to examine the 2023 Tesla following reports of a foul odour emanating from it. Officers discovered a dismembered body, which was “severely decomposed”, in the front storage area of the vehicle.
According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office, the body appeared to have been inside the vehicle for an extended period of time. The medical examiner on September 16 said the remains were those of Rivas, who was reported missing on April 5, 2024 from Lake Elsinore, California, about 112 kilometres south-east of Los Angeles.
An unnamed representative for Burke told NBS Los Angeles at the time that the singer was co-operating with authorities. However, his co-operation with law enforcement allegedly ceased by November 18, according to local reports.
Burke was due to tour Ballarat, Perth, Canberra and Gold Coast in December last year as part of the Spilt Milk festival. However, his name was removed from the event’s website in September.
“Last week we removed D4vd from our website and marketing out of respect for the unfolding story,” the organisers wrote in a statement on Instagram at the time. “We can now confirm D4vd will not perform at Spilt Milk.”
The singer also cancelled additional shows he had booked in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, as well as his entire US tour.
Burke is a well-known name among Gen Z, mixing indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit Romantic Homicide, which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He then signed with Darkroom and Interscope and released his debut EP Petals to Thorns and a follow-up, The Lost Petals, in 2023.
With AP
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Nell Geraets is a Culture reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners