D4vd performing during the Coachella music festival on 18 April 2025 in Indio, California. Photograph: Timothy Norris/Getty Images for CoachellaD4vd performing during the Coachella music festival on 18 April 2025 in Indio, California. Photograph: Timothy Norris/Getty Images for CoachellaD4vd arrested on suspicion of murder months after body of teen girl foundThe 21-year-old musician, born David Anthony Burke, is being held without bail, according to city authorities
R&B singer D4vd has been arrested on suspicion of murder, months after the severely decomposed body of a teenage girl was found in his Tesla, Los Angeles police said on Thursday.
The 21-year-old musician, who was born David Anthony Burke, is being held without bail, according to city authorities.
In September, LAPD detectives wercalled to a tow yard in Hollywood, after receiving reports of a foul odor emitting from an impounded car that was registered to Burke. Authorities found a dismembered body that was later identified as 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. She had been reported missing in 2024, and was last seen in Lake Elsinore, approximately 60 miles south-east of downtown Los Angeles.
Los Angeles’s medical examiner’s office determined that Rivas Hernandez had been deceased in the vehicle for “an extended period of time before being found”.
Police said Burke’s case will be presented to the district attorney’s office on Monday.
The arrest comes as Burke was facing a grand jury investigation related to Rivas Hernandez’s death.
In September, a spokesperson for the singer told NBC News that Burke was “fully cooperating with the authorities .The singer’s lawyer Blair Berk could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.
Burke, who was raised in Houston, became a breakout star around 2022 after a string of viral TikTok hits, including Romantic Homicide, which has seen renewed scrutiny over lyrics about death.
His internet popularity led to collaborations with stars SZA and Kali Uchis. When Hernandez’s body was discovered, Burke was on a tour, which was later cancelled.
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