Singer D4vd has been arrested on suspicion of killing a missing 14-year-old girl whose decomposed body was found in the trunk of a Tesla registered to him last year, authorities said Thursday.
Los Angeles police said in a brief statement that homicide detectives arrested D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, on suspicion of murder in the investigation of the killing of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
Burke’s defence lawyers, Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter, said in a statement to The Associated Press: “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,” they added.
Police said investigators would present a case to prosecutors at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Monday.
Global News has reached out to the office for further comment.
Authorities did not publicly name Burke as a suspect until his arrest. He was being held in jail without bond.
In February, Burke was named the target of a Los Angeles County grand jury investigation into the killing of Rivas, according to court documents.
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Prosecutors described the 21-year-old Houston-born singer as the target of the investigation in grand jury subpoenas issued Jan. 15 seeking to have three of his relatives testify.
The documents, obtained and viewed by Global News, were sealed in California, where the grand jury investigation had been kept secret. They were later made public by an appeal of the subpoenas in Texas from Burke’s mother, father and brother, who were ordered to appear before a Los Angeles grand jury on Feb. 11.
The legal documents say the “Target may be involved in having committed the following criminal offenses against the laws of the State of California, to wit: One count of Murder.”
The Tesla was registered in his name at the address of his subpoenaed family members, the court filings say.
The body of Rivas was found on Sept. 8, a day after she would have turned 15. She was a 13-year-old seventh grader when her family reported her missing in 2024 from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, about 112 kilometres southeast of Los Angeles. In the court documents, authorities say she was 14 when she was killed.
The filing states that Rivas “may have been the victim of foul play.”
Her body was “severely decomposed,” stuffed inside a bag in the trunk of the Tesla registered in Hempstead, Texas, to Burke. Burke’s Tesla was originally impounded after it had been parked on a Hollywood Hills street for more than 72 hours.
The subpoena says police investigators searching the 2023 Tesla Model Y in a tow yard found a cadaver bag “covered with insects and a strong odor of decay.”
“Detectives approached the vehicle which was parked on the upper deck of the impound lot and immediately noticed a smell of decaying biological material consistent with a decomposing corpse coming from the front storage compartment of the vehicle,” the documents say.
“Detectives partially unzipped the bag and observed a decomposed head and torso,” the subpoena says.
“Upon removing the cadaver bag from the front storage compartment, it was discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body,” the document says. “A second black bag was discovered underneath the cadaver bag. Upon opening the second bag, the dismembered body parts were discovered.”
Investigators from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene.
The medical examiner’s office had previously said only that the body was found severely decomposed and that Rivas had likely been dead for an extended period before she was found.
A representative for the Romantic Homicide singer released a statement in September 2025 saying that Burke had “been informed about what’s happened” and that he was “fully cooperating with the authorities.”
In November, Burke was considered a suspect in the death of Rivas. An LAPD source with direct knowledge of the investigation told NBC Los Angeles that Burke had not been co-operative.
Police have already searched a home in the Los Angeles neighbourhood where Burke’s Tesla was abandoned in September.
Authorities were seeking several items, including digital devices that would have security recordings or could connect Rivas to the location.
The LAPD said several pieces of evidence were recovered from the home and will be analyzed. Authorities also said investigators were following up on leads.
The robbery-homicide division “is thoroughly examining every aspect of this case to uncover the truth and seek justice for Celeste Rivas Hernandez and her family,” they said on Sept. 29.
Burke was on the North American leg of his international tour at the time of the body’s discovery. He cancelled the remaining dates of his U.S. tour amid the investigation.
— With files from The Associated Press
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