{"id":596069,"date":"2026-04-20T19:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/596069\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T19:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:10:10","slug":"d4vd-charged-with-murder-in-death-of-teen-girl-celeste-rivas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/596069\/","title":{"rendered":"D4vd Charged With Murder in Death of Teen Girl Celeste Rivas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tD4vd<\/a> has been charged with murder following his arrest last Thursday for the death of a teen girl whose decomposed body was found in the trunk of his Tesla.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt a press conference on Monday, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said that the singer, whose real name is David Burke, would face a first-degree murder charge which could potentially make him eligible for the death penalty. He will also face charges for lewd acts with a child and for dismembering the girl\u2019s body.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe victim, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, went to Burke\u2019s home in the Hollywood Hills on April 23, 2025, Hochman said. That was the last time she was seen alive, he said. Her body was found five months later. Hochman declined to say how Rivas was killed, but said the coroner\u2019s report would be released shortly.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere is physical evidence and there is forensic and digital evidence that we intend to present in court to prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt,\u201d Hochman said.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe charges include allegations the Burke used a \u201csharp instrument\u201d to kill Rivas. Burke is due to be arraigned later on Monday.<\/p>\n

\n\tHochman alleged that Burke was having a sexual relationship with Rivas, who was 14 when she died and 13 when she ran away from home.<\/p>\n

\n\tBurke is accused of murder with multiple \u201cspecial circumstances\u201d that make the case eligible for either the death penalty or life without parole. Those include \u201clying in wait,\u201d murder for financial gain, and murdering a witness to a crime \u2014 as Rivas is considered a witness to the lewd acts charge. <\/p>\n

\n\tAt the press conference, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell defended the decision not to release details of the investigation sooner.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy duty is not to fuel speculation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s to deliver justice, and that requires patience and discipline on everybody\u2019s part. This investigation was driven by a single purpose \u2014 to secure justice for Celeste Rivas and for those who loved her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBurke was arrested and held without bail last week<\/a> following a lengthy investigation by the LAPD\u2019s Robbery-Homicide Division.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe case began back in September 2025, when LAPD officers were called to the Hollywood tow yard to investigate a foul odor emanating from the car, which had been in the yard for days. The police found the decomposed body placed inside of a bag in the front trunk of the Tesla, which was registered in Hempstead, Texas to D4vd. The car was impounded the previous week after being abandoned in the Hollywood Hills, where neighbors complained of a rotting smell.<\/p>\n

\n\tEarly reports indicated that D4vd was cooperating with the investigation. A week after he was linked to the body\u2019s discovery, he canceled the remaining dates of his U.S. tour.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe body was soon identified as Rivas, who was reported as missing in 2024 when she was 13. In November, the LAPD confirmed that they were investigating a trip that D4vd had taken to the Santa Barbara area sometime during the spring of 2025 following Hernandez\u2019s disappearance, and the medical examiner\u2019s office said the LAPD had blocked the office from releasing details about the death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"D4vd has been charged with murder following his arrest last Thursday for the death of a teen girl…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168014,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[89930,88],"class_list":["post-596069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-d4vd","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}