D4vd Sued By Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s Family
They’re Suing Him And His Family For Multiple Charges in the middle of this trial.
By SyndicatedNews | SNN.BZ
The case against recording artist D4vd has moved far beyond the mystery that began when decomposed human remains were discovered inside a Tesla. Medical evidence, DNA testing, digital communications, purchase records and five days of preliminary-hearing testimony have now produced a far more detailed account of what prosecutors allege happened to 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
And now, a newly filed wrongful-death lawsuit has widened the case beyond singer David Anthony Burke himself, accusing members of his professional and personal circle of enabling circumstances surrounding his relationship with the teenager. Burke has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
CELESTE RIVAS HERNANDEZ MEDICAL EXAMINER’S REPORT
The medical evidence provides the most objective starting point. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner determined that Celeste died from multiple penetrating injuries and classified her death as a homicide. The examination found two penetrating wounds to her torso: one entered the right abdomen and injured her liver, while another penetrated the left chest. Her remains had undergone extensive decomposition by the time they were examined, significantly limiting what forensic pathologists could determine. The official Medical Examiner case number is 2025-14252. Read the official Los Angeles County Medical Examiner findings
The autopsy also documented extensive postmortem dismemberment. Celeste’s upper and lower extremities had been amputated, and two fingers on her left hand—the ring and pinky fingers—were missing. At Burke’s preliminary hearing, Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Grant Ho testified that he believed both legs had been amputated with a power tool. The severe decomposition prevented him from identifying the precise instrument that inflicted the fatal wounds or reliably establishing exactly when Celeste died. Toxicology detected a low level of ethanol, although the report said it could have resulted from postmortem changes or ingestion and did not appear to have contributed to her death. Read the Medical Examiner’s official case information
Prosecutors have constructed a much more specific theory of the killing. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Celeste went to Burke’s Hollywood Hills residence on April 23, 2025, and was never seen alive again. Prosecutors allege Burke fatally stabbed her and subsequently attempted to dispose of her remains. The following day, according to evidence presented at the preliminary hearing, Burke allegedly ordered a shovel. Over the following days, prosecutors say he used an alias to order three chainsaws, a body bag and a blue inflatable pool. Blood matching Celeste’s DNA profile was subsequently detected in Burke’s garage, according to testimony summarized by the District Attorney. Read the District Attorney’s preliminary-hearing evidence summary
Investigators say another physical clue connected the alleged dismemberment scene to Celeste’s remains. Prosecutors allege Burke placed her body inside the inflatable pool and used a chainsaw to dismember it. When Celeste’s remains were eventually recovered, investigators found small blue plastic fragments embedded with them, according to the District Attorney’s account of the preliminary-hearing evidence. Her decomposed and dismembered remains were discovered September 8, 2025, inside the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke after the abandoned vehicle had been towed to a Hollywood impound lot. See the prosecution’s official account of the forensic evidence
The prosecution’s alleged motive centers on a relationship that investigators say began while Celeste was far below the age of consent. Prosecutors contend Burke first became involved with Celeste when she was a child and that the relationship became sexual when she was 13 and Burke was 18. Evidence presented during the preliminary hearing included thousands of communications between them and discussions concerning pregnancy and an abortion. In the hours before prosecutors believe Celeste was killed, messages showed an escalating confrontation in which she threatened to expose Burke and destroy his career. Prosecutors allege that Burke, whose music career had become highly lucrative, killed Celeste because disclosure of the relationship threatened that career.
That theory is reflected in the official felony complaint, which charges Burke with murder and includes special-circumstance allegations that the killing was committed for financial gain, that Celeste was intentionally killed because she was a witness to a crime, and that Burke killed her by means of lying in wait. The complaint identifies the alleged murder date as approximately April 23, 2025. Those are allegations—not findings of guilt—but they make this considerably more serious than an ordinary murder prosecution because the special circumstances could expose Burke, if convicted as charged, to life imprisonment without parole or potentially the death penalty. Read the complete felony complaint against David Anthony Burke — PDF
One particularly disturbing piece of evidence may also provide context for the two missing fingers documented during the autopsy. Evidence introduced in court showed that Celeste had the name “David” tattooed on a finger, while another surviving finger bore a “Shhh…” tattoo similar to one associated with Burke. The newly filed civil complaint reportedly alleges that Celeste’s missing ring finger carried the “David” tattoo and claims Burke removed fingers in an attempt to conceal evidence of their relationship. That explanation has not been established as fact in the criminal case; it is an allegation contained in the family’s civil litigation. The distinction is important because the autopsy establishes that fingers were missing, while the lawsuit attempts to explain why.
The case became broader this week when Celeste’s parents, Mercedes Martinez and Jesus Rivas, filed a wrongful-death action in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The lawsuit names Burke as well as people and companies associated with him, including his mother, management-related defendants and a live-in security guard. The family alleges people around Burke knew or should have known about his inappropriate relationship with Celeste and helped provide transportation, housing, money or other circumstances that enabled it to continue. Those defendants have not been found liable, and the allegations will have to be established through the civil court process. Read the latest report on the family’s wrongful-death action
The family’s civil complaint reportedly goes further, alleging Burke contacted Celeste online in 2022, when she was 11 and he was 17, before meeting her in person the following year. The complaint alleges that Burke later provided Celeste with a secret telephone, used false identities and arranged transportation that allowed the two to meet without her parents’ knowledge. It also alleges that thousands of messages passed between them during the relationship. These allegations substantially expand the timeline now under scrutiny and raise separate questions about what people surrounding the successful young recording artist knew and when they knew it. Read details of the newly filed civil allegations
A Los Angeles County judge has already concluded that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence at the five-day preliminary hearing for Burke to stand trial. Twelve prosecution witnesses testified during that proceeding. Burke continues to deny the charges and has pleaded not guilty to murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains. His defense has challenged the prosecution’s reconstruction of events, including the absence of eyewitnesses or surveillance footage directly recording the alleged killing. A preliminary-hearing ruling does not determine guilt; it establishes that sufficient evidence exists for the prosecution to proceed to trial. Read the District Attorney’s official announcement ordering Burke to stand trial
The legal landscape has changed in another significant way. Burke’s private defense attorneys withdrew from the criminal case in August, and he is now represented by the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office. He remains jailed without bond. Meanwhile, Celeste’s family has publicly urged Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman to seek the death penalty if Burke is convicted. Prosecutors have said that the charged special circumstances make death or life without parole possible, but the District Attorney has not yet made the ultimate decision on whether capital punishment will be sought. Read the latest case-status reporting
What began with a terrible discovery inside an impounded Tesla has therefore become three overlapping stories: a homicide established by the medical examiner, a criminal prosecution attempting to prove who committed it and why, and a civil lawsuit asking whether other people surrounding Burke bear responsibility for allegedly allowing his relationship with Celeste to continue. The autopsy establishes how Celeste died. The forensic and digital evidence forms the backbone of the prosecution’s theory. The new lawsuit now asks a different question—how much was known outside the walls of Burke’s Hollywood Hills residence before Celeste disappeared?
Burke has pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges. Every criminal allegation against him remains to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and the allegations against the additional defendants in the wrongful-death lawsuit remain unproven civil claims.
Here is a chronology compiled from public official statements, charging documents as reported by news outlets, medical-examiner releases, and court coverage. Allegations from prosecutors are labeled as such. David Anthony Burke (D4vd) has pleaded not guilty.
Background
- Celeste Abigail Rivas Hernandez — Lake Elsinore, Riverside County, California. Family of Salvadoran immigrant parents. Would have turned 15 on September 7, 2025.
- David Anthony Burke (D4vd) — singer; prosecutors say they first met around January 2022 when she was 11. They allege a sexual relationship beginning November 2023 when she was 13 and he was 18. He has denied causing her death.
2024 — Repeated missing-person reports
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| ~Feb 14–15, 2024 | Family reports her missing the first time (Valentine’s Day period). Missing flyers circulated. Riverside County Sheriff’s Office later contacted Burke after his number appeared in her phone records; a welfare check was done at a West Hollywood / Hollywood Hills address tied to him. She returned home about Feb 19. |
| ~March 19, 2024 | Second missing-person report. She returned. |
| April 5, 2024 | Third and last official family missing-person report (about 9:29 p.m.). She was 13, in 7th grade. Described as last seen in gray pants, black sweater, hat, Hello Kitty sandals. Follow-up deputy visits continued in mid-April. This is the last reported disappearance from home; it is not the last evidence she was alive. |
| May 2024 | Some reporting says last confirmed contact with family. |
| Later 2024 | Neighbors and reporting said she was seen in the Lake Elsinore area at times after April. CNN and others later described photos and digital material placing her in Burke’s orbit into late 2024. A digital camera later recovered from a rented house associated with Burke reportedly had photos of both of them from late December 2024–early January 2025. |
Riverside County handled the runaway/missing reports. LAPD later took the homicide.
2025 — Last known life, alleged killing, discovery
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Sept 2024 / Jan 2, 2025 | Some public reporting (including Wikipedia summary of later investigation material) cites surveillance or digital evidence she was still alive. Exact official dates of last verified sighting before April 2025 remain uneven across sources. |
| April 22, 2025 | Prosecutors later cited texts from an argument; they say she threatened to disclose the relationship and damage his career (album release was days away). |
| April 23, 2025 | Prosecution theory of last time seen alive and date of killing. They allege he sent an Uber from Lake Elsinore to his Hollywood Hills home that evening and that she was not heard from again. Charging language: killed “on or about” April 23 with a sharp instrument. Burke’s defense disputes that he caused the death. |
| April 25, 2025 | Debut album Withered released. He continued promotional activity and touring. |
| ~May 5, 2025 | Some charging summaries allege mutilation of remains on or about this date (dismemberment after death). |
| Late July 2025 | Tesla associated with Burke reported parked unused / dirty on Bluebird Avenue area (Hollywood Hills). |
| Sept 8, 2025 | Body discovered. Tow-yard staff in Los Angeles report a foul odor. LAPD opens the front trunk (“frunk”) of a 2023 Tesla Model Y registered to Burke. Remains in bags; death pronounced by an LAPD detective at ~11:00. One day after she would have turned 15. Car had been towed after sitting for weeks. Burke was on tour (performed Minneapolis that night per some timelines). |
| Sept 10, 2025 | Deputy medical examiner examines the remains at the DME Forensic Science Center. Case 2025-14252. |
| Sept 16–17, 2025 | Remains identified as Celeste (dental comparison). Search warrant activity reported. |
| Sept 15 / Nov 21, 2025 | LAPD first requests, then obtains a court security hold blocking public release of DME findings. |
| Dec 9, 2025 | DME determines cause and manner: multiple penetrating injuries by object(s); homicide. Report remains sealed. |
2026 — Arrest, charges, autopsy release, hearing
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Feb 25, 2026 | Court filings publicly confirm he is a target of the murder investigation. |
| April 16, 2026 | Arrested in Hollywood Hills; held without bail. |
| April 20, 2026 | Charged with first-degree murder (special circumstances alleged: lying in wait / financial gain / to conceal a crime), continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and mutilation of human remains. Pleads not guilty. |
| April 22, 2026 | DME releases cause/manner and the 26-page autopsy after the hold is lifted. |
| July 21–27, 2026 | Preliminary hearing (Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo). Testimony includes autopsy doctor Grant Ho, texts, photos, Amazon/alias purchases, Tesla/phone data. Judge finds probable cause and holds him to answer on all counts and special circumstances. Held without bail. |
| Aug 31, 2026 | Scheduled post-prelim arraignment. Trial date not set in the coverage reviewed; death-penalty decision by the DA still pending in later reports. |
Autopsy snapshot (publicly reported)
Cause: multiple penetrating injuries (two torso wounds described as possible sharp-force: abdomen/liver and left chest/ribs). Manner: homicide. Dismemberment of limbs after death; two left-hand fingers missing. Severe decomposition limited timing, eye color, and some wound interpretation. Low-level ethanol in liver tissue; not treated as contributory. Identification by dental radiographs. Tattoo “Shhh….” noted on a finger.
Gaps that remain public
- Exact last independent sighting between mid-2024 and April 23, 2025 is not fully pinned down in open reporting.
- No murder weapon has been publicly identified as recovered.
- Time of death is still “unknown” on the DME report; the examiner testified death was at least weeks before discovery and “potentially” months.
- Burke remains presumed innocent; the case is pretrial.
