d4vd Charged With Celeste Rivas’ Murder & May Face Death Penalty, Social Media Detectives React

US-JUSTICE-CRIME-D4VD — Source: FREDERIC J. BROWN / Getty

UPDATE– APRIL 20, 2026, 2:00 p.m. EST

After being arrested last week, singer d4vd has officially been booked for the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez after her dismembered, decomposed body was found in his car in September 2025.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said he’s charged with first-degree murder; lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14; and mutilating a body.

The Associated Press reports that he could face the death penalty because the murder charge comes with the special circumstances of “lying in wait, committing a crime for financial gain, and murdering a witness in an investigation.”

ORIGINAL STORY–

d4vd has been arrested in connection with the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

According to the LAPD, the singer, born David Anthony Burke, will be charged with “suspicion of murder” after he was taken into custody around 4:30 p.m. Thursday in Hollywood.

The Los Angeles Times says he’s being held without bail and will be presented to the L.A. County district attorney’s office on Monday for filing consideration.

After he was booked around 10 p.m., d4vd’s lawyers, Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter, released a statement, saying they were confident that the evidence would absolve him of any connection to Hernandez’s death, and pointing out that he hasn’t been indicted yet.

“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,” the statement read. “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.”

This investigation began in September, when his Tesla was found stranded in the Hollywood Hills before being taken to Hollywood Tow.

Workers noticed a foul smell emanating from the car’s front trunk, and upon calling authorities, they discovered her decomposing body just a day after what would have been her 15th birthday. Her body was split between two cadaver bags, one containing her arms and legs, with LAPD Captain Scot Williams saying she had been dead for at least several weeks and weighed just 71 pounds.

She was initially reported missing back in 2024, but no progress in finding her was ever made.

The fallout was swift for d4vd as his industry partnerships dried up, his Withered World Tour fell apart within days, and social media threw the book at him even before he was named a suspect in November.

Now that he’s officially charged with murder, see social media’s reaction below.