The singer D4vd has been arrested in connection with the death of a teenage girl whose decomposing, dismembered body was discovered last year in the trunk of his towed Tesla, the Los Angeles Police Department told ABC News.
Officials said D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke and is a 21-year-old resident of Los Angeles, is being held in connection with the alleged murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez without bail.
Sources told ABC News the arrest is based on evidence and probable cause that was developed. It was not an indictment.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s findings in the D4vd case are sealed, though ABC News has learned through sources connected to the investigation that the medical examiner determined the teen’s death to have been a “homicide.” Information on the cause of death has not been released.
The singer was arrested at 5 p.m. local time Thursday and booked later that night at the LAPD’s 77th Street Station in south Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s online booking records.
The LAPD said the case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Monday for filing consideration.
In a statement, the singer’s attorneys maintained his innocence, saying: “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. 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.”
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 25: d4vd performs during the 2024 Boston Calling Music Festival at Harvard Athletic Complex on May 25, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images
The body of Rivas Hernandez, a 14-year-old from Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, was found in the vehicle in September 2025, authorities said. She was reported missing in 2024, investigators confirmed to ABC News following the discovery.
According to court filings in connection with a Los Angeles County grand jury investigation in connection with Rivas Hernandez’s death, her “severely decomposed, dismembered body” was found in the front trunk of D4vd’s abandoned, impounded Tesla on Sept. 8, 2025, at a Hollywood tow yard. Her head and torso were found in one bag, and her arms and legs in another, according to the filings from Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
The Tesla had been at the impound lot for two days after being found abandoned on a Hollywood street, investigators said. The towed vehicle was registered to Burke.
Officers had responded to the impound lot “for a foul odor coming from a vehicle,” Los Angeles police said.
The teen may have been dead for several weeks before her body was discovered, police said. Her remains were found a day after her 15th birthday, according to her death certificate.
In this file photo, photographs, notes, and flowers are among the items left at a memorial for slain teen Celeste Rivas Hernandez in Lake Elsinore, Calif, on Sept. 25, 2025.
Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, FILE
D4vd’s arrest comes after months of compiling evidence, senior officials told ABC News. The grand jury that was empaneled didn’t play much of a role in getting to this point, they said.
As part of the grand jury investigation, Hochman had filed petitions in Texas seeking to compel D4vd’s parents and brother to testify in Los Angeles. Hochman stated that D4vd was the “target” of the grand jury investigation and alleged that the singer “may be involved in the death of 14-year-old victim Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who may have been a victim of foul play.”
Attorneys for D4vd’s parents said Thursday that they “stand behind their son 100%” and believe in his innocence.
D4vd, who first went viral on TikTok, where he has nearly 4 million followers, had been on his “Withered” world tour when the body was discovered in his vehicle. The last few shows of the tour, including those in San Francisco and Los Angeles, were canceled.
Shows on the European leg of the tour were also canceled.
Promotion on the deluxe edition of the “Romantic Homicide” singer’s debut album, which was set to be released on Sept. 19, was also paused, a source close to the situation previously told ABC News.
