The singer D4vd is accused of killing a teenage girl whose dismembered body was found in the trunk of his Tesla after she threatened to reveal information that could \u201cend his career and destroy his life,\u201d according to court documents filed Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Celeste Rivas Hernandez, 14, was murdered about a year and a half after D4vd, 21, the \u201cRomantic Homicide\u201d singer whose real name is David Anthony Burke, was accused of starting a sexual relationship with her and shortly after an argument that prompted her to threaten to disclose information about their relationship, according to a filing from the Los Angeles County District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities believe Celeste was killed on April 23, 2025, one day after they had an argument about his relationships with other women, according to the document, which was filed ahead of a preliminary hearing next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Burke was arrested and charged this month with first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse and mutilation of human remains in Celeste\u2019s disappearance and death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He has pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys have said they will \u201cvigorously defend his innocence.\u201d They did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Celeste’s family has described her as a \u201cbeautiful, strong girl\u201d who loved to sing, dance and spend Fridays watching movies with her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the filing, the two met in January 2022, when Celeste was 11, and began a sexual relationship in November 2023, when she was 13 and he was 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Text messages cited in the filing showed they discussed sex, pregnancy, abortion and the use of the Plan B emergency contraceptive. The messages also include explicit photos that document their sexual relationship, the filing says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In February 2024, over a year before her death, Celeste’s family reported her missing from her home in Lake Elsinore, the filing says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities in Riverside County spoke with Burke, who said he was unaware she was a minor and had been reported missing, it alleges. When deputies were sent to his Los Angeles home, Burke said he\u2019d met her only once, in November 2023, the filing says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough he claimed to be unaware of where the victim was at the time, she returned home two days later,\u201d the filing says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The filing alleges that Burke continued to pursue Celeste and that he drove to Lake Elsinore, where he paid a high school student $1,000 to get Celeste a new cellphone after her parents confiscated hers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout 2024, Celeste spent summer weekends at Burke\u2019s home in the Hollywood Hills, and she traveled with him to Las Vegas, London and Texas, where she met his family, the filing says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Celeste’s family reported her missing again in April 2024, it says. They broke up in November 2024, though they continued to talk. Text messages suggest their sexual relationship continued afterward, the filing says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following April, Celeste became upset about Burke\u2019s relationships with other women after he \u201cled her to believe they had a future together,\u201d the filing says, noting that at the time, he had an emerging multimillion-dollar career and multiple product endorsements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On April 23, 2025, Burke sent an Uber to pick her up, according to the filing, which says they talked before and during the ride. She arrived at his home at 10:10 p.m., it says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon after she arrived, the filing alleges, Burke stabbed her multiple times. Twenty minutes later, the filing says, he texted her, asking where she was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe People contend this was part of the defendant\u2019s premeditated plan to cover up the murder, as she was already dead by this time,” the filing says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That night, the filing alleges, Burke drove to Santa Barbara to destroy evidence \u2014 and arrived home the next morning for a radio interview about the release of a new album. A transportation worker found Celeste’s passport card in Santa Barbara in January, the filing says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Burke used a fake name \u2014 Victoria Mendez \u2014 on Amazon to buy chain saws that he used to dismember her, a \u201cburn cage\u201d to incinerate evidence and other items, the filing alleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prosecutors said in the filing that he took \u201chorrifying measures\u201d to destroy Celeste\u2019s body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Celeste\u2019s remains were found in the trunk of Burke\u2019s abandoned Tesla at a Hollywood tow lot on Sept. 8, one day after she would have turned 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nbcnews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The singer D4vd is accused of killing a teenage girl whose dismembered body was found in the trunk of his Tesla after she threatened to reveal information that could \u201cend his career and destroy his life,\u201d according to court documents filed Wednesday. Celeste Rivas Hernandez, 14, was murdered about a year and a half after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":56657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1154],"tags":[1875,3320,3097,37157],"class_list":["post-56621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-girl","tag-homicide","tag-los-angeles","tag-singer-d4vd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56621"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56658,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56621\/revisions\/56658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}