David Anthony Burke, the singer known as D4vd, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder after prosecutors alleged he killed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez to stop her from exposing his conduct. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman filed court papers saying Burke, 21, fatally stabbed the Lake Elsinore teen in April 2025 after she threatened to “ruin his music career.”
Burke was arrested nearly a year after Hernandez’s death and faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder with special circumstances, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14, and mutilating a body. Prosecutors allege the pair had a romantic relationship and that Burke arranged for a rideshare driver to drop Hernandez at his Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025. According to the filing, Burke stabbed her multiple times “very soon after her arrival” and then tried to conceal the killing by texting and calling Hernandez as if she were alive.
The DA’s office says Burke used a fake name to order items delivered to his home — a shovel, a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, two chainsaws, a blue inflatable pool and a burn cage — through Amazon or Postmates. Prosecutors assert the burn cage was intended to incinerate evidence and that the inflatable pool was used to keep blood from spilling on Burke’s garage floor during alleged dismemberment. They contend Hernandez’s remains were placed in two bags and stored in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke.
Medical examiners determined Hernandez died in April 2025 from “multiple penetrating wounds,” according to the filing. Prosecutors say Burke left her decomposing body in the vehicle for weeks or months and misled friends, business associates and others who noticed a strong odor of decay near his home and car.
Prosecutors also told the judge that Burke possessed what they described as a “significant amount of child pornography.” Attorneys for the Rivas Hernandez family declined to comment on that claim. Hochman said in a news release that Celeste was under 14 when Burke allegedly engaged in repeated lewd and lascivious sexual relations with her and that, when she threatened to expose him, Burke murdered and dismembered her.
Burke and his lawyers deny the allegations. His attorneys said the evidence will show he did not commit the crime, noted that no grand jury indictment or criminal complaint had been returned at the time of their statement, and said he was detained under suspicion and will be vigorously defended.
A Los Angeles County judge set a preliminary hearing for May 26, with a possible status hearing on May 12. Burke, who has pleaded not guilty, briefly acknowledged the new date in court. Prosecutors had complained after clearing schedules for an earlier May 1 hearing.
The murder charge includes special-circumstance allegations that the killing involved lying in wait, was committed for financial gain and was intended to silence a witness. If convicted as charged, Burke faces up to life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.