los angeles — D4vd singer has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the ‘brutal and horrific’ incident death A 14-year-old girl’s mutilated body was found in a Tesla that was pulled over last year in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Monday.
D4vd — a 21-year-old Los Angeles resident whose legal name is David Burke — was arrested last week in connection with the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez after a month-long investigation, police said. He is being held without bail.
The charges come after the Los Angeles Police Department submitted the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Monday for consideration.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, Hochman said.
The teenager’s body was found dismembered In the trunk of the singer’s Tesla registered last fall.
Rivas Hernandez’s family is expected to attend the press conference and court, their lawyer said.
“The Rivas Hernandez family is committed to ensuring that Celeste’s voice is heard and her memory is honored throughout this process,” attorney Patrick Steinfeld said in a statement.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman explained the charges against the D4vd singer in a morning press conference.
D4vd’s lawyers insisted on his innocence after his arrest on Thursday.
“Let’s be clear – the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not kill Celeste Rivas Hernandez and was not the cause of her death,” his attorneys said in a statement. “We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”
Rivas Hernandez, of Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, had been missing for more than a year when her badly decomposed and dismembered body was found in the trunk of an abandoned Tesla and held in a D4vd at a Hollywood tow lot in September 2025, officials said.
Read more: Who is D4vd? The singer arrested in the death of a 14-year-old started out as a video game player
Her head and torso were found in one suitcase, and her arms and legs were found in another suitcase, according to court documents filed by Hochman in connection with Los Angeles County. Grand jury investigation In connection with the death of the teenager.
Investigators said the Tesla remained in custody for two days after it was found abandoned on a Hollywood street. The towed vehicle was registered in Burke’s name.
The officers were He responded Los Angeles police said he was taken into custody “due to a foul odor emanating from the vehicle.”
Police said the teenager may have been dead for several weeks before her body was discovered. Her remains were found the day after her 15th birthday, according to her death certificate.
Senior officials told ABC News that the “Romantic Homicide” singer’s arrest comes after months of evidence gathering. They said the grand jury that was seated played little role in getting to this point.
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