Los Angeles County prosecutors have officially charged singer D4vd with first-degree murder in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, and have stated an alleged motive.
David Anthony Burke, 21, who records under the name D4vd, entered a not-guilty plea Monday through his defense attorney after prosecutors filed a criminal complaint following his April 16 arrest. As The Dallas Express previously reported, Burke was taken into custody last week by the Los Angeles Police Department without bail in connection with Rivas Hernandez’s death.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said at a press conference earlier this week that new evidence clearly outlined his motivation – specifically, that Burke allegedly killed Rivas Hernandez to prevent his relationship with an underage girl from derailing his rising music career.
“This murder was committed for financial gain,” Hochman said, per CNN. “The financial gain was for Mr. Burke to maintain his very lucrative music career that Celeste was threatening on that night.”
In addition to first-degree murder, Burke has been charged with continuous lewd acts against a child under 14 and mutilation of human remains. Because of the special circumstances alleged, Burke is eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
Burke appeared in court Monday dressed in a black sweatshirt and grey sweatpants, showing little emotion and avoiding eye contact with Rivas Hernandez’s family, who were present in the courtroom. His defense attorneys pushed for preliminary hearings to begin immediately, maintaining that the evidence would ultimately clear D4vd’s “innocence.”
Rivas Hernandez was 14 years old when she disappeared from Lake Elsinore, California, in April 2024. Her decomposed remains were found in September 2025 inside a Tesla registered to Burke that had been impounded at a Hollywood tow yard – a discovery that The Dallas Express was among the first to cover.
Newly unsealed court documents out of Texas formally labeled Burke a “target” of a Los Angeles grand jury investigation months before his arrest last week.
Prosecutors allege the teen visited Burke’s home in April of 2024, at his invitation, and was never seen alive again. Her body was found the day after what would have been her 15th birthday. Burke’s family has publicly stood by him, with a spokesperson saying they are “terribly disappointed” by the charges but support him “100 percent.”
The alleged murderer’s next court date is scheduled for April 23.
