Earlier this month, David Burke, who performs as d4vd, was arrested for the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. The 21-year-old alt-pop star was formally charged shortly after, and now new documents filed by prosecutors have been released.
According to TMZ, investigators claim Burke stabbed Rivas to death at his Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025 after he ordered an Uber to bring the 14-year-old from her family's home in Lake Elsinore, CA. Prosecutors say that he had a shovel from Home Depot delivered through Postmates after he killed her. Then, on May 1, 2025, he allegedly bought two chainsaws from Amazon. Then, four days later, a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags and an inflatable pool. He made all the purchases under the alias Victoria Mendez.
Prosecutors say he used the chainsaw to dismember Rivas in the inflatable pool, which prevented her blood from spilling on the garage floor. They claim he amputated the ring and pinky fingers on Rivas' left hand because of a tattoo of his name on her ring finger, which has not been recovered.
Detectives searched Burke's rental home in September 2025, and authorities say they found "evidence consistent with the dismemberment of the victim’s body in the inflatable pool, which contained multiple linear cuts. Several biological samples, which tested positive for blood, were collected within the garage area." The Medical Examiner's report noted there were blue plastic fragments found embedded in Rivas' body parts, which were consistent with the inflatable pool material.
Prosecutors claim Burke and Rivas met in 2022, when she was just 11 years old, and he began raping her in November 2023 when she was 13 and he was 18. Prosecutors also claim it's clear when Burke knew she was a minor. Rivas' family first reported her missing in February and April 2024 and Riverside County Sheriff's deputies called Burke after finding his number in her phone records. He claimed he didn't know she was a minor or missing. When Rivas returned home two days later, her parents took her phone. Aware that she was underage, Burke paid a student in Rivas' class $1000 to deliver a cellphone he'd bought for her so they could stay in contact.
Throughout the rest of the year, they allegedly traveled together as a couple to Las Vegas, London, and Texas, where she met his family. The night before her last Uber ride to Burke's home, they were allegedly having a fight over text about Burke hooking up with other women, and she "threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with [him] to end his career and destroy his life." Shortly after she arrived, he sent texts to her phone asking where she was. The D.A.'s Office believes that was part of his "premeditated plan to cover up the murder."
One hour after the alleged murder, Burke drove to Santa Barbara County "attempting to dispose of [Rivas'] property and destroy evidence" and returned home early on April 24 to do a radio interview to promote his album. On July 7, he ordered a "burn cage" from Amazon, which prosecutors believe was to incinerate the evidence.
District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman has said that Burke may face the death penalty.
