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The legal situation for David Anthony Burke, the 21-year-old musician known professionally as D4vd, escalated as the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed formal charges of first-degree murder in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Following an arraignment at a downtown Los Angeles courthouse on April 20, 2026, prosecutors revealed that the severity of the charges makes the singer eligible for the death penalty.
Burke, who pleaded not guilty through his attorneys, is facing a slate of charges that include first-degree murder with special circumstances, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and mutilating human remains. District Attorney Nathan Hochman detailed a harrowing set of allegations, claiming that Burke had engaged in a sexual relationship with Hernandez while she was 13 and 14 years old. According to the prosecution, the motive for the killing was “financial gain,” specifically to protect Burke’s “lucrative musical career” after the teenager allegedly threatened to expose the relationship.
The timeline established by investigators suggests Hernandez was killed on or around April 23, 2025, the same day she was last seen traveling to Burke’s Hollywood Hills home and notably the same day tickets for his world tour went on pre-sale. Her dismembered and severely decomposed remains were later discovered on September 8, 2025, inside the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke that had been towed to a Hollywood impound lot.
The “special circumstances” cited in the filing, lying in wait, murder of a witness, and murder for financial gain, are what elevate the case to capital status under California law. While Hochman noted that a final decision on whether to actively pursue the death penalty will be made at a later date, he confirmed that the charges currently carry the maximum possible sentences of life without the possibility of parole or death.
Burke’s defense team, led by attorney Blair Berk, maintained the singer’s innocence during the hearing, arguing that the forensic evidence will eventually clear him of the killing. “We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez nor was he the cause of her death,” Berk stated.
Burke remains in custody without bail. As the case moves toward trial, it has sent shockwaves through the music industry, where D4vd had recently emerged as a breakout star with hits like “Romantic Homicide.” For the family of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who attended the hearing in silence, the filing of these capital charges marks the most significant step toward justice since the teenager’s disappearance two years ago.
