{"id":261803,"date":"2026-04-22T22:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T22:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/261803\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T22:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T22:25:10","slug":"cause-of-death-released-for-celeste-rivas-hernandez-girl-who-houston-area-singer-d4vd-is-charged-with-killing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/261803\/","title":{"rendered":"Cause of death released for Celeste Rivas Hernandez, girl who Houston-area singer D4vd is charged with killing"},"content":{"rendered":"

A judge had ordered the report sealed in November at the request of law enforcement <\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES \u2014 Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 14-year-old girl singer Houston-area singer D4vd is charged with killing<\/a>, died from penetrating injuries, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Her death was ruled a homicide in the report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office that had been blocked from release for months.<\/p>\n

A judge had ordered the report sealed in November at the request of law enforcement after the girl’s dismembered and decomposed body was found in a pair of bags in the trunk of a Tesla parked in the Hollywood Hills in September. But prosecutors agreed this week to allow its release.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Family of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez issues statement after Houston-area D4vd charged with murder<\/a><\/p>\n

The 21-year-old alt-pop singer D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged in the killing Monday. He pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a dead body.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege he killed the girl because she threatened to report the sexual relationship that began when she was 13 years old and he feared it would ruin his rising career.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Timeline: From before Celeste Rivas Hernandez went missing to after singer D4vd was charged with murder<\/a><\/p>\n

A criminal complaint alleges he killed her with a sharp object and dismembered the body about two weeks later.<\/p>\n

Burke’s attorneys said he did not cause Rivas Hernandez’s death and they will vigorously defend his innocence.<\/p>\n

LA County’s Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odey C. Ukpo has sought to emphasize his agency’s independence from law enforcement and to make its work as public as possible since he took over the job three years ago. He has said he does not believe sealing reports of his office’s work helps investigations and has said he would only put holds on releasing the reports it if compelled by a court order.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter several months, I am grateful this information can now be released, not only to the public, but also to the grieving family enduring loss,\u201d Ukpo said in a statement Wednesday. \u201cIt is unfathomable they have had to wait this long to learn what happened to their daughter.”<\/p>\n

D4vd, pronounced \u201cDavid,\u201d gained popularity among young fans for his blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit \u201cRomantic Homicide,\u201d which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard\u2019s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He released his debut EP \u201cPetals to Thorns\u201d and a follow-up, \u201cThe Lost Petals,\u201d in 2023.<\/p>\n

His debut full-length album, \u201cWithered,\u201d was released one year ago, two days after the date prosecutors estimate that Rivas Hernandez was killed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A judge had ordered the report sealed in November at the request of law enforcement LOS ANGELES \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":{"0":"post-261803","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-houston-headlines","10":"tag-houston-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}