Los Angeles police officers in tactical gear descended on a Hollywood Hills home Thursday afternoon and arrested 21-year-old singer David Anthony Burke, known professionally as D4vd, on suspicion of murdering a 14-year-old girl whose decomposed and dismembered body was found inside a Tesla registered in his name. Burke is being held without bail, and the case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office on Monday for a charging decision.
The victim, Celeste Rivas Hernandez of Lake Elsinore, California, was reported missing by her family three separate times throughout 2024, when she was just 13. Her remains were discovered in September 2025, one day after what would have been her 15th birthday, inside the trunk area of an abandoned 2023 Tesla Model Y that had been towed from a street in the Hollywood Hills.
That timeline alone should trouble anyone who follows how missing-child cases move through the system. A mother reports her daughter missing three times. The girl vanishes. Months pass. Her body turns up in a bag, in the back of a car, on a public street. And the arrest doesn't come until months after that.
Officers from LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division, along with members of the Gang and Narcotics and K9 units, executed the arrest at Burke's home around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, the Daily Mail reported. Police shared photos of themselves at the scene. Footage obtained by TMZ showed the moment Burke was placed in handcuffs and led away.
In that footage, an officer could be heard issuing a direct warning before the arrest:
"If you try to run or try to resist, you will get hit... and you will get hurt."
Burke did not resist. He was transported to the LA County Jail, where he remains held without bail. LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division commanding officer Capt. Scot M. Williams confirmed the arrest on scene, telling the New York Post that officers came to the home with a probable-cause arrest warrant for murder.
An official LAPD statement confirmed the basics: "Detectives from Los Angeles Police Department, Robbery-Homicide Division have arrested David Burke, a 21-year-old resident of Los Angeles, for the murder of Celeste Rivas. Burke is being held without bail."
The grim discovery that set this investigation in motion came in September 2025, when employees at a Hollywood tow yard called police after noticing a powerful stench coming from a vehicle. The 2023 Tesla Model Y had been sitting on Bluebird Avenue in the Hollywood Hills for more than 72 hours and appeared abandoned. Neighbors told investigators the car had been moved several times before being left there. The vehicle was registered to Burke's address in Texas.
Court documents paint a disturbing picture of what investigators found inside. The Tesla's trunk area contained a cadaver bag that was, in the words of those filings, "covered with insects and a strong odor of decay." When detectives partially unzipped the bag, they "observed a decomposed head and torso." A second black bag was found underneath the first. Investigators then "discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body."
The LA medical examiner's office removed the remains. The coroner determined the body had been there for "an extended period of time before being found." Rivas Hernandez was identified as the victim. She had been wearing black leggings, a tube top, a yellow metal chain bracelet, and stud earrings when her body was recovered. The cause of death has not been publicly revealed.
Forensic evidence in high-profile murder investigations often takes months to process, and the gap between discovery and arrest here, roughly seven months, suggests a complex evidentiary trail.
The investigation did not begin with Thursday's arrest. Last September, around the time the body was found, LAPD obtained a warrant to search the rented Hollywood Hills home where Burke had been staying, a property described as costing $20,000 a month. Officers seized a computer from the residence during that search.
Burke reportedly broke his lease and moved out of the home shortly after that raid.
By mid-November, a grand jury investigation into Burke had begun. A friend of the singer, identified as Neo Langston, was called to testify before the grand jury. Yet despite months of proceedings, Burke's defense attorneys say no indictment was returned and no criminal complaint was filed before Thursday's arrest.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office confirmed it is aware of the arrest. Its Major Crimes Division will review the case to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to file formal charges. That review is expected to begin Monday, Fox News reported.
Burke's legal team, attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter, issued a forceful denial after the arrest. AP News reported their statement in full:
"Let us be clear, 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."
The attorneys added, as the Washington Times reported: "There has been no indictment returned by any grand jury in this case and no criminal complaint filed. David has only been detained under suspicion. We will vigorously defend David's innocence."
That distinction matters legally. An arrest on probable cause is not a conviction, and prosecutors have yet to formally charge Burke. But the facts already in the public record, a dead teenager found dismembered in his car, a search warrant executed at his home, a grand jury investigation targeting him, represent a substantial foundation for what comes next.
Celeste Rivas Hernandez was 13 years old when her family first reported her missing in 2024. Her mother filed missing-person reports three different times that year. Investigators say Rivas was 14 when she died. Her body was not found until September 2025, one day after her 15th birthday.
Friends of Burke told TMZ that he and Rivas were frequently seen together and that they believed the two were romantically involved. If true, that detail raises its own set of serious questions, given that Burke was an adult and Rivas was a minor throughout the period in question.
The case bears the hallmarks of investigations where law enforcement eventually closes in on a suspect only after painstaking forensic and circumstantial work, and where the public is left wondering why it took so long.
Burke, who performs under the name D4vd, went viral on TikTok in 2022 and quickly landed a record deal. He collaborated with stars including SZA and Kali Uchis, building a substantial following in the alt-pop space. One of his breakout tracks, "Romantic Homicide," released in 2022, included the lyrics: "In the back of my mind, I killed you... And I didn't even regret it... I can't believe I said it... But it's true... I hate you."
Song lyrics are not evidence. But the title and content of that track will inevitably shadow the public conversation around this case.
Breitbart reported that Burke's tour was canceled following the arrest. The 21-year-old's rapid rise, from TikTok virality to a $20,000-a-month Hollywood Hills rental, has now collided with the most serious accusation the criminal justice system can bring.
Cases involving public figures charged with murder always draw intense scrutiny. This one will draw more than most, given the age of the victim and the gruesome manner in which her body was discovered.
The immediate question is whether the District Attorney's Major Crimes Division will file formal murder charges after reviewing the case Monday. Burke's attorneys have made clear they intend to fight. No grand jury indictment has been returned, and no criminal complaint had been filed as of the most recent reports.
The cause of death remains undisclosed. The court that issued the search warrant and the documents describing the Tesla's contents has not been publicly identified. And the question of how a 13-year-old girl could be reported missing three times in one year, and still end up dead, has not been answered by anyone.
In a state where the political leadership routinely shows more concern for offenders than victims, the people of California will be watching to see whether the system treats this case with the gravity a murdered child deserves.
A 14-year-old girl is dead. Her mother asked for help three times. The system owes her family more than a probable-cause warrant seven months after the fact.
