D4vd Could Face the Death Penalty Following Murder Charges

Photo Credit: Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman and LAPD Chief Jim McConnell

Singer D4vd has been charged with murder following his arrest last week for the death of the teen girl whose body was found in his car last year.

At a press conference on Monday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said that singer D4vd has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Celese Rivas Hernandez, the teen girl whose body was found in the trunk of his car last year.

D4vd, whose real name is David Burke, could be eligible for the death penalty as a result. He is also being charged with lewd acts with a child and with dismembering her body.

Hochman said that Celese Rivas Hernandez went to Burke’s Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, which was the last time she was seen alive. Her body was found five months later, dismembered and decomposing in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke.

While Hochman declined to confirm how Rivas Hernandez was killed, he said the coroner’s report would be forthcoming.

“There 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,” said Hochman, who alleged that Burke was having a sexual relationship with Rivas Hernandez, who was 14 when she died and 13 when her family said she ran away from home.

Meanwhile, LAPD Chief Jim McConnell defended the decision not to release details of the investigation ahead of the press conference.

“My duty is not to fuel speculation,” McConnell said. “It’s to deliver justice, and that requires patience and discipline on everybody’s part. This investigation was driven by a single purpose—to secure justice for Celeste Rivas and for those who loved her.”

Last week, Burke was arrested and held without bail after an investigation that began in September, when LAPD officers were called to the Hollywood tow yard to investigate a “foul odor” emanating from the car. Authorities found the decomposed body inside a bag in the front trunk of the Tesla, which was registered in Texas to Burke. The car had been in the lot for a few days after being abandoned in the Hollywood Hills.

While early reports indicated that Burke was cooperating with the investigation, later reports suggested that he was no longer being cooperative once he had been named a suspect. Shortly after the body’s discovery, he cancelled the remaining dates of his U.S. tour, which he had embarked on before the body was discovered.