D4vd Arrested for Murder of Celeste Rivas, Months After Body Found in Singer’s Car
The singer's lawyers say, "The actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death."
d4vd at the Interscope & Capitol Records Coachella Party on April 13, 2024 in Palm Springs, California
D4vd has been arrested for the murder of Celeste Rivas, the teenage girl whose dismembered body was found in the singer’s car this past fall.
The Thursday (April 16) arrest of the 21-year-old “Romantic Homicide” singer (born David Anthony Burke) is the stunning culmination of a lengthy investigation into the death of Rivas, who went missing from her home in Lake Elsinore, Calif., at the age of 13 in April 2024. Los Angeles police discovered Rivas’ partial, decomposed remains in the front trunk of an impounded Tesla registered to D4vd in September.
The Los Angeles Police Department said D4vd is being held without bail, and his case will be presented to the District Attorney’s office for filing consideration on Monday. An attorney for the singer did not immediately return a request for comment.
D4vd’s name has been connected to Rivas’ since police responded to reports of a “foul odor” coming from a Tesla registered in his name in a Hollywood tow lot this past September. Officers discovered two bags containing severed, decomposed body parts that were later identified as Rivas – including a head, torso and limbs.
A lengthy criminal investigation followed. D4vd was officially confirmed as a suspect in February, when the singer’s family members filed public court petitions seeking to avoid testifying before the grand jury tasked with deciding whether to indict him.
D4vd got his start in music while livestreaming video games in the early 2020s, and his first single “Romantic Homicide” went viral on TikTok in July 2022. The song eventually peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100, and he followed up with the No. 60 single “Here With Me.” D4vd quickly got noticed by the major record labels, and he signed with Darkroom/Interscope Records in September 2022.
After releasing two EPs and opening for SZA’s blockbuster SOS Tour in 2023, D4vd dropped his debut album Withered this past April. The album opened at No. 13 on the Billboard 200, and he embarked on a headlining tour in August.
But D4vd’s career came to an abrupt halt with the discovery of Rivas’ body on Sept. 8. The remaining dates of his Withered World Tour were canceled, and Interscope appeared to shelve a deluxe version of the album that had been set for release on Sept. 19.
