{"id":625468,"date":"2026-04-24T11:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T11:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/625468\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T11:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T11:52:11","slug":"celeste-rivas-hernandez-what-we-know-about-the-14-year-old-d4vd-is-accused-of-killing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/625468\/","title":{"rendered":"Celeste Rivas Hernandez: What we know about the 14-year-old d4vd is accused of killing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The tightknit and family-friendly city of Lake Elsinore in Riverside County is about 70 miles southeast and a world apart from the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood Hills.\n <\/p>\n

\n Celeste Rivas Hernandez<\/a> grew up in Lake Elsinore, where she was a regular at the corner store down the street from her home. Neighbors still recall her strolling around with her backpack and long curly black hair atop her 5-foot-2 frame.\n <\/p>\n

\n Kayleigh Cortez, a neighbor, remembered the first time she saw Celeste three years ago.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, look at that girl. She had big, beautiful curls. That\u2019s a beautiful little girl,\u2019\u201d Cortez recalled.\n <\/p>\n

\n The next time Cortez saw Celeste was when her picture appeared in the news after her dismembered and decomposed body was discovered in the trunk of a Tesla owned by the alt-pop singer who goes by the name d4vd. The car was parked on a street in the upscale Hollywood Hills neighborhood where the artist, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, had rented a multimillion-dollar home in the hills under the iconic Hollywood Sign.\n <\/p>\n

\n Her body was found a day after what would have been her 15th birthday.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHollywood will always entice kids,\u201d said Cortez, 36, who has a 14-year-old daughter. \u201cGetting to meet a celebrity or doing something out of the norm is cool for any young teen. Lake Elsinore is small. It\u2019s kind of quiet. It\u2019s not like hustle and bustle.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n About a year after Cortez first saw Celeste on the street, family and friends began to report the girl as missing, starting in early 2024. She and d4vd appeared together in a Twitch livestream that January. Between then and March 2024, he was photographed getting out of a black Tesla near the seventh grader\u2019s home.\n <\/p>\n

\n Celeste was also photographed backstage at one of his Los Angeles shows in June 2024. She was last seen alive<\/a> going to d4vd\u2019s home in April 2025.\n <\/p>\n

\n She was 13 at the time, a teenager seen in widely circulated photos with thick, dark curls that highlight her soft smile.\n <\/p>\n

\n She loved Hello Kitty, and the missing persons poster in Lake Elsinore said she was last seen wearing Hello Kitty slippers.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI don\u2019t want her remembered as a rebellious kid or a runaway,\u201d said Cortez, who started and tends to a makeshift memorial outside the home where Celeste lived with her family.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cShe was a daughter, a sister, a friend. She was a young girl just trying to figure out life, and she doesn\u2019t get to grow up,\u201d Cortez said. \u201cShe doesn\u2019t get to get married or have any children because someone took that away from her.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n On Monday, following a monthslong investigation, Burke, 21, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. The Los Angeles District Attorney added \u201cspecial circumstances\u201d to the charge, which makes the sentence eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors say he had a sexual relationship with the young girl and killed her after she threatened to expose it. He allegedly engaged in \u201ccontinuous sexual abuse\u201d of Celeste starting in September 2023 until September 2024, according to a criminal complaint.\n <\/p>\n

\n Blair Berk, one of d4vd\u2019s attorneys, wrote in a statement on Monday, \u201cThe 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. We will vigorously defend David\u2019s innocence.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Celeste died of \u201cmultiple penetrating injuries,\u201d according to an autopsy report released<\/a> Wednesday. She had wounds on her chest and abdomen that \u201cmay represent sharp force injuries,\u201d the Los Angeles County medical examiner\u2019s office said in the report.\n <\/p>\n

\n A tattoo reading \u201cShhh\u2026.\u201d was found on the inside of her right index finger, the autopsy report said, similar to the tattoo d4vd has on his finger.\n <\/p>\n

\n Two fingers were severed and missing from her other hand.\n <\/p>\n

\n Since Celeste\u2019s dismembered body was discovered in Burke\u2019s Tesla, most news coverage of the case has focused on the budding musical sensation known to his legion of mostly young fans as d4vd.\n <\/p>\n

\n But Celeste\u2019s brief life has drawn relatively little notice.\n <\/p>\n

\"Relatives<\/p>\n

\n Celeste\u2019s family has largely stayed out of public view since her body was discovered.\n <\/p>\n

\n In a statement, the family\u2019s attorney said the parents, Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez, asked for privacy as they grieve the loss of their daughter.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe Rivas Hernandez family is committed to ensuring that Celeste\u2019s voice is heard and her memory is honored throughout this process,\u201d family attorney Patrick Steinfeld said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cCeleste was a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance,\u201d the family said in a statement.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe love her very much and she always told us that she loved us,\u201d they added. \u201cWe miss her deeply. All we want is Justice for Celeste.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n After the release of the autopsy report on Wednesday, Steinfeld said the findings have caused \u201cprofound emotional pain\u201d for Celeste\u2019s loved ones.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe Rivas Hernandez family is absolutely devastated by the findings contained in the Medical Examiner\u2019s report involving the horrible and gruesome death of their beloved daughter,\u201d the statement says. \u201cThey respectfully ask for privacy, understanding, and patience as they process this information.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n For now, friends and neighbors honor Celeste\u2019s memory at the memorial that Cortez started with a lone photo of the girl and some flowers. It now includes fresh flowers, stuffed animals, toys, candles and a huge sign saying, \u201cJustice for Celeste Rivas.\u201d Neighbors stop by to pay their respects, often leaving flowers and other mementos.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cEvery holiday I make something for her, like for Valentine\u2019s Day, for Christmas, and I just put it out there. It\u2019s kind of become like a labor of love for me,\u201d Cortez said.\n <\/p>\n

\n One day, a man who Cortez believes is an uncle of Celeste emerged from the teen\u2019s home and knelt before the memorial, sobbing uncontrollably, she said. Family members always mouth the words \u201cthank you\u201d to Cortez when they drive by.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis memorial is about Celeste and about her legacy and her impact,\u201d Cortez said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Her brief life has had an impact on many residents of Lake Elsinore \u2013 including Elie Naddaf, who owns a corner store a few doors down from where Celeste lived.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI feel like I know her forever, for 11 years here,\u201d Naddaf said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Takis and soda were her favorite afternoon snacks, he recalled. On rainy days, Naddaf would make hot chocolate for Celeste and other kids waiting for the school bus.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou don\u2019t know the future, where it\u2019s going with this girl,\u201d he lamented. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what her dream\u2026 All this taken from her, from her family.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Naddaf said he kept his 17-year-old daughter out of school for about a week after he learned of Celeste\u2019s death. He wanted to \u201cjust spend time with her and talk to her\u201d about the many risks teenagers face.\n <\/p>\n

\n Cortez said she and her daughter talk about Celeste nearly every day.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHer friends are very protective of Celeste and her name because she\u2019s not here to defend herself,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The tightknit and family-friendly city of Lake Elsinore in Riverside County is about 70 miles southeast and a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-625468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}