Singer D4vd has been formally charged with the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, making him eligible for the death penalty if he is found guilty and convicted.
Rivas Hernandez’s remains were discovered in the front trunk of a Tesla that had been impounded at a Hollywood tow yard in September last year.
Police say the vehicle was registered to D4vd’s address in Texas. D4vd, real name David Burke, was officially named as a suspect in the killing in February, and was arrested on April 16.
On Monday, the 21-year-old singer was charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances, continuous lewd acts with an individual under 14 and mutilating human remains of a body.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office explained the special circumstances for D4vd’s first-degree murder charge – which includes ‘lying in wait, committing this crime for financial gain or murdering a witness in an investigation.’
The charges, filed in California, carry a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole and the death penalty.
LA County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman told a press conference on Monday that a determination on the death penalty will be made at a later date.
D4vd is currently being held in a Los Angeles prison with no bail.
Based on testimony from her friends and family, it is believed Rivas was in a romantic relationship with the 21-year-old singer at the time of her death.
Her family said she was last seen in spring 2024, when she left her Lake Elsinore home at age 13. They said, however, that this was not the first time she had run away.
Rivas Hernandez’s remains were discovered last September after the Tesla that allegedly belonged to D4vd was left on a public street for more than 72 hours, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
It was then impounded and taken to Hollywood Tow.
Employees at the tow yard began to notice a stench coming from the vehicle and called police on September 8 last year.
Investigators said the girl had been dismembered and found her decomposed head and torso in a cadaver bag.
She was found days after what would have been her 15th birthday, but police believe she likely died much earlier, with the county medical examiner saying the remains were ‘severely decomposed.’
This is a breaking news story.
