Inside The D4vd–Celeste Rivas Tragedy: What We Know So Far

This case started with a tow yard in Hollywood and has only gotten stranger since. D4vd — the 21-year-old singer behind viral hits and a busy 2025 tour — has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 15-year-old girl whose body was found in the trunk of a Tesla registered to him. Here is where things stand now, how we got here, and all the messy details that have surfaced along the way.

Where things stand right now

Police arrested D4vd (real name David Anthony Burke) on April 16. He is being held without bail. Detectives say the case is being forwarded to the District Attorney for potential charges.

"Detectives from Los Angeles Police Department, Robbery-Homicide Division have arrested David Burke, a 21-year-old resident of Los Angeles, for the murder of Celeste Rivas. Burke is being held without bail. The case will be presented to the District Attorney’s office on Monday for filing consideration."

His legal team — Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter — pushed back immediately, stressing that there are no formal charges on file as of now.

"Let us be clear - the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death. There has been no indictment returned by any grand jury in this case and no criminal complaint filed. David has only been detained under suspicion. We will vigorously defend David’s innocence."

Note on the name: Police have identified the victim as Celeste Rivas. Her family and the defense have referred to her as Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

How we got here (a fast, clear timeline)

• April 2024: The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office confirms to the Los Angeles Times that Celeste Rivas has been reported missing.
• April 2025: D4vd releases his album 'Withered,' which includes a track titled 'Afterlife.' A deluxe edition, 'Withered Deluxe: Marcescence,' is announced for September 19, 2025.
• September 6, 2025: On Instagram, D4vd posts:

  "I start media training tomorrow guys wish me luck ..."

• September 8, 2025: LAPD responds to a tow yard on the 1000 block of Mansfield Avenue in Hollywood after reports of a foul odor coming from a vehicle. Detectives find human remains in a Tesla. Multiple outlets report the car is registered in Hempstead, Texas, to David Anthony Burke (aka D4vd).
• Mid-September 2025: A spokesperson for D4vd tells NBC News he has been informed of the situation, remains on tour, and is cooperating with authorities.
• September 16, 2025: While on his 'Withered' world tour, D4vd cancels his Seattle show, per Fox 13 Seattle.
• September 17, 2025: Authorities confirm to NBC Los Angeles that the remains found in the Tesla are Celeste Rivas. Identification was made through forensics; the Medical Examiner says cause of death will take more time. Rivas had turned 15 the day before the discovery. That same day, law enforcement searches a Hollywood Hills house connected to the investigation. TMZ reports police leave with a computer and several evidence bags. KABC notes D4vd does not own the home but had been staying there.
• September 17, 2025: Rivas’s mother tells TMZ her daughter had a boyfriend named David. D4vd’s legal name is David Anthony Burke.
• September 19, 2025: TMZ reports D4vd’s team cancels his remaining two U.S. dates (San Francisco on Sept. 19 and Los Angeles on Sept. 20) and a Grammy Museum appearance scheduled for Sept. 24. Ticketmaster listings show many international dates also coming down, including Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, and more. His December 2025 Australia shows are later canceled. Interscope and parent company UMG pause the 'Withered' deluxe release that was set for Sept. 19, citing respect for the investigation.
• September 19, 2025: Rivas’s family launches a GoFundMe for funeral costs. By that date it has raised over $14,000 toward a $20,000 goal.
• September 23, 2025: The Los Angeles County Coroner releases Rivas’s body to her family, per TMZ. The investigation continues; at that time, no suspect is publicly named.
• September 28, 2025: LAPD Captain Scot M. Williams tells People that the Tesla had been parked for weeks before it was towed, and it is very likely Rivas had been deceased for several weeks before discovery. He adds that the Medical Examiner had not determined cause or manner of death, so potential criminal liability beyond concealing a body was unclear at that point.
• September 29, 2025: TMZ reports Rivas’s death certificate shows she was not pregnant at the time of her death and had not been pregnant in the previous year.
• October 1, 2025: TMZ cites police records showing Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies were called to Rivas’s Lake Elsinore home 11 times between February 2024 and April 2025. Most calls are labeled 'minor crime investigation,' with one listed as 'suspicious circumstances.' On March 19, 2024, deputies reportedly visited her properties three times in one day.
• November 2025: NBC News reports that LAPD has officially identified D4vd as a suspect in the case, citing an LAPD source.
• December 16, 2025: California private investigator Steve Fischer posts on X that he was hired by the owner of the property D4vd was renting and claims he found a 55-pound burn cage inside, still in its packaging. He says such an incinerator burns at roughly 1,600 degrees (higher than typical crematorium settings around 1,400) and notes it is barred for use within Los Angeles city limits.
• December 19, 2025: As of this date, despite being publicly named a suspect, D4vd had not yet been arrested.
• April 16 (months after being named a suspect): LAPD arrests D4vd on suspicion of murder in Rivas’s death and holds him without bail, with the case headed to the District Attorney for charging review. His attorneys say there is no indictment or criminal complaint and maintain his innocence.

The music context

When all of this hit the news, D4vd was in the middle of the 'Withered' cycle. He had just dropped the album in April 2025 and teed up a deluxe edition for September. The label paused that rollout once the investigation exploded into public view. Worth noting: back in 2022 he released 'Romantic Homicide,' complete with a video featuring a bloodied woman in a white dress. He has said in the past that he writes like a poet — the kind where different people can read the same piece and walk away with different meanings. Artistic themes are not evidence, obviously, but fans were quick to connect dots once the case went public.

Other details investigators and the internet seized on

Rivas’s mother told TMZ that her daughter had a small 'Shhhh' tattoo on her finger and that D4vd has the same ink on his right index finger. That design has been floating around celebrity culture since Rihanna got it in 2008, and several other stars have similar tattoos, so it is not exactly uncommon — but it certainly fueled speculation online.

Police searched a Hollywood Hills house tied to the investigation and left with electronics and evidence bags; local reporting says D4vd did not own the property but had been staying there. Separately, a private investigator says he later found an unused burn cage inside a home the singer was renting — a piece of equipment that, according to him, is not allowed to be used inside Los Angeles city limits. Officials have not said how, if at all, that item factors into the case.

About the victim and her family

Rivas was only 15, and according to police, she had been missing for well over a year when her body was found. Her family’s fundraiser described her as a beloved daughter, sister, cousin, and friend, and asked for help covering funeral costs. The Medical Examiner has not publicly released a cause or manner of death from that period in the timeline; police later said it appeared she had been dead for weeks before discovery. Her death certificate indicated she was not pregnant and had not been pregnant in the prior year.

What to watch for next

The immediate question is whether the District Attorney files charges following the April 16 arrest. At the moment, D4vd remains held without bail, and his lawyers insist he did not kill Rivas and that no formal charging documents exist yet. Until prosecutors decide what, if anything, to file, we are in a holding pattern — but given the public timeline and the search activity, expect more details from court filings if and when they land.