D4vd Was ‘Last Person to Drive’ Tesla Before Girl’s Body Was Found in Trunk, Prosecutors Say
The singer has been charged with the first-degree murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez
By Nancy Dillon
April 29, 2026
D4vd appeared in court Wednesday as his lawyers asked that his preliminary hearing be delayed several weeks. The evidentiary hearing that was set to begin Friday has been pushed to May 26.
Minutes after the hearing ended, prosecutors released a blockbuster evidence brief claiming that “surveillance video and other evidence confirm defendant was the last person to drive” his Tesla before the dismembered and decomposed remains of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas were found in the front trunk last September.
The brief, obtained by Rolling Stone, claims the platinum-selling singer, born David Anthony Burke, first met Rivas when she was 11 years old. Prosecutors allege Burke “began a sexual relationship” with Rivas when she was 13, and that Riverside County officials contacted Burke in February 2024 and informed him of her age after she was reported missing by her family.
Despite being contacted by law enforcement, Burked “continued to pursue” Rivas, the filing states. He allegedly drove to her home in Lake Elsinore, south of Los Angeles, and “paid a junior high school student in the victim’s class $1,000 to give the victim a cell phone [that he] purchased so they could stay in contact,” prosecutors claim.
Recovered texts between Burke and Rivas “contain references to sex, pregnancy, abortion, and use of the Plan B emergency contraceptive,” the brief alleges. Burke and Rivas also exchanged “explicit photographs documenting and corroborating their sexual relationship,” it claims.
According to prosecutors, Burke “broke up” with Rivas in November 2024, though they continued to communicate. The new nine-page filing alleges Burke and Rivas “engaged in a lengthy argument described in detail in their text messages” on the night before Rivas was last seen alive.
“The messages reveal the victim’s jealousy over defendant’s relationships with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together,” the brief reads. Rivas purportedly became “extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life,” prosecutors claim. Burke sent an Uber to pick Rivas up from Lake Elsinore on April 23, 2025, the night she allegedly was murdered.
Prosecutors allege Burke texted with Rivas during her ride, and that the driver dropped the teen off at Burke’s Hollywood Hills address around 10:10 p.m. Burke then sent text messages to Rivas at 10:30 p.m., inquiring where she was, the filings states.
“The people contend this was part of defendant’s premeditated plan to cover up the murder, as she was already dead by this time,” the filing reads. “Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened, very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim. todeath multiple times and stood by while she bled out.”
Prosecutors allege Burke left his home at 11:30 p.m. and texted and called Rivas’ phone, asking where she was. “Again, these acts were calculated and planned to set up his defense,” the filing states. Burke allegedly drove to Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County, returning home the next morning to attend a radio interview. He later ordered a shovel from Home Depot, which was delivered by Postmates on April 24, 2025, and two chainsaws, a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, and a blue inflatable pool, which were delivered by Amazon in early May, the filing claims.
Burke made the purchases under a fake name, Victoria Mendez, and returned to Santa Barbara County twice more, the brief alleges. He also ordered a “burn cage” to his home under the same fake name, “as part of his plan to incinerate evidence,” prosecutors contend.
“The circumstances and present state of discovery led us to conclude we need this additional time to review the discovery we just got or are about ot get,” Burke’s defense lawyer Marilyn Bednarski said at the Wednesday afternoon hearing.
Judge Charlaine Olmedo asked Burke if he agreed to the postponement. “Yes, your honor,” he replied.
Burke, 21, has been charged with the first-degree murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 14-year-old girl found dismembered and badly decomposed in the front trunk of his Tesla last September.
Prosecutors also charged him with continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains. They added special circumstance allegations of murder of a witness, murder for financial gain, and lying in wait, which makes him eligible for the death penalty. (Though prosecutors have not yet decided whether to pursue it.) Burke has pleaded not guilty.
Last week, Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman revealed that Burke’s iCloud account, obtained by investigators, contained what she described as “a significant amount of child pornography.”
Burke’s lawyers, Marilyn Bednarski and Blair Berk, pressed for an immediate preliminary hearing. Judge Charlaine Olmedo said it would begin this Friday, May 1.
Burke
was arrested on April 16 at a house in the Hollywood Hills. Prosecutors said police served a simultaneous search warrant at the property not far from the iconic Chateau Maramont hotel. Silverman said the case involves a large volume of evidence, including material obtained through a wiretap, and that three grand juries were convened in recent months to investigate.
A long-awaited autopsy report
released last week concluded Rivas died from “multiple penetrating injuries” to the upper abdomen. It described two stab wounds that perforated her liver and chest. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.
The report also described the condition of her remains, noting dismemberment and advanced decomposition that made visual identification and fingerprinting impossible. Toxicology showed a low level of ethanol and presumptive positives for several drugs pending confirmation.
Prosecutors allege Rivas was last seen entering Burke’s Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, and was killed that day. They contend her body was mutilated weeks later. Burke’s lawyers have said he “did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez.”
If convicted as charged, Burke faces either life in state prison, without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty. Prosecutors have said a decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made at a later date.
Born in New York and later raised in Texas, Burke first gained attention as a
Fortnite gamer and musician with the self-produced song, “You and I.”
He broke through to mainstream success in the summer of 2022 with the hit singles “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me,” after they garnered so much traction on TikTok, they jumped to spots on the
Billboard charts. He released his debut EP,
Petals to Thorns, in May 2023.
His debut studio album,
Withered, was released in April 2025, two days after Rivas was seen for the last time.
At a press conference, LADA Nathan Hochman claimed that Rivas was only 13 years old when Burke allegedly engaged in repeated “lewd and lascivious sexual relations with her.”
“Burke’s actions did not allegedly stop there,” he said. “When she threatened to expose his criminal conduct and devastate his musical career, Burke allegedly murdered her, cut up her body and stuffed her body in two bags that were placed in the front trunk of his car.”
