Police say the 21-year-old singer is being held without bail while prosecutors review whether to file a murder charge.
LOS ANGELES, CA — Singer D4vd was arrested Thursday on suspicion of murder in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose decomposed and dismembered remains were found in September inside a Tesla registered to the artist after the vehicle was towed from the Hollywood Hills.
The arrest moved a case that had simmered for months from secrecy and court filings into a public criminal matter. Los Angeles police said David Burke, the Houston-born alt-pop singer who performs as D4vd, was being held without bail while the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the case for possible charges. The investigation has drawn wide attention because of Burke’s rapid rise in music, the age of the victim and the grim discovery of her body in a car tied to a public figure.
Investigators have traced the public timeline back to 2024, when Celeste was reported missing after leaving her home area in Lake Elsinore, east of Los Angeles. Her family searched for answers for months as the case generated little public detail. On Sept. 8, 2025, workers and investigators examining an impounded Tesla Model Y in a Hollywood tow yard found remains in black bags inside the vehicle, according to reports from authorities and court records. The car had been abandoned in the Hollywood Hills and later towed. Burke was on tour at the time as his debut album campaign was unfolding, but performances were later canceled as the investigation intensified. Police had not named him publicly as a suspect at first. An earlier representative for Burke said he had been cooperating with investigators. On Thursday, police shifted the case sharply, arresting him and saying the evidence had developed to the point where detectives believed they had probable cause to seek murder charges.
Officials have disclosed only part of what they believe happened. Police have identified the victim as Celeste Rivas Hernandez, 14, and said the remains found in the Tesla were hers. The exact cause of death has not been released publicly, and autopsy details have remained closely held as detectives built the case. Court records that surfaced earlier this year showed Burke had been treated as the target of a secret grand jury investigation in Los Angeles County. Those filings indicated prosecutors were examining a possible murder case and had sought testimony from relatives in Texas. The nature of Burke’s relationship with Celeste has not been fully explained by authorities. Public reporting has said her brother told investigators or reporters that she had gone out to meet Burke for a movie before she disappeared, but police have not publicly laid out a full account of their contact, how often they communicated, or what evidence links the singer directly to the killing beyond the vehicle and other material gathered during the inquiry. On Thursday, investigators also emphasized that the arrest itself did not amount to a conviction and that charging decisions now rest with prosecutors.
The case has carried an unusual mix of celebrity and criminal investigation from the start. Burke, now 21, broke through in 2022 after songs including “Romantic Homicide” spread on TikTok and streaming platforms, turning him from a teenager making music in Houston into an artist with a major following. By late 2025, he was touring behind his album “Withered.” That public rise collided with a private investigation when the body in the Tesla was identified. Records cited in prior reporting said the vehicle was registered in Burke’s name. The discovery of a decomposed body inside a car connected to a touring musician drew national media attention, but police released little information while they pursued evidence behind the scenes. In February 2026, court documents disclosed that prosecutors were using a grand jury process, a sign that the inquiry had become more formal and potentially more expansive. The documents also showed family members fighting subpoenas in Texas, adding another layer to the case and suggesting investigators were seeking testimony or records beyond California. For Celeste’s family, the larger issue has remained the same since her disappearance: who killed a 14-year-old girl and how her body ended up hidden inside an abandoned car in Los Angeles.
The procedural path now becomes more concrete. Police said Burke was arrested Thursday and is being held without bail. The case is expected to be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office on Monday, April 20, for filing consideration. Prosecutors will decide whether to charge him formally with murder or pursue some other course as the investigation continues. Burke’s lawyers told the Los Angeles Times that evidence will show he did not murder Celeste and that they plan to fight the case aggressively. If charges are filed, the next public step would likely be an arraignment in Los Angeles County court, where Burke would enter a plea and a judge would address bail, custody and scheduling. Investigators could also continue serving warrants and reviewing digital evidence. Reports Thursday said police executed a search warrant at a Hollywood Hills property where Burke had been staying and seized a computer and other items. That suggests detectives are still assembling a broader account of the case, one that may rely not only on the condition and location of the Tesla but also on phones, messages, travel records and forensic evidence. Until prosecutors file, several core questions remain unresolved in public: when Celeste died, where she was killed, and what sequence of events led to her body being placed in the vehicle.
Outside the legal filings and official statements, the case has left a grim human trail. Celeste was a 14-year-old whose disappearance stretched from a missing person report into a homicide investigation that surfaced only in fragments over many months. Her family has lived with shifting bursts of hope, fear and public attention as new details emerged. Burke’s public silence after earlier statements from a representative also fed speculation online, especially after his tour dates disappeared and court filings named him as a target. Police have urged the public to let the justice process unfold through evidence rather than rumor. For music fans, the arrest lands with particular force because Burke’s success was recent and his audience was young. For investigators, the challenge is narrower and more exacting: to build a case that explains not just why the singer came under suspicion but whether the available evidence can prove, in court, what happened to Celeste beyond a reasonable doubt. That next phase will unfold in prosecutors’ offices and courtrooms, not on social media.
The case stood Thursday at a turning point, with Burke in custody, Celeste’s family still awaiting fuller answers, and prosecutors expected to decide soon whether to file a formal murder charge on April 20.
Author note: Last updated April 16, 2026.