American singer, D4vd has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murd£r in the de@th of a teenage girl who vanished last year.
The star, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is accused of murd£ring 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose decomposing remains were found in September in a Tesla registered to his Texas address.
The 21-year-old was arraigned on Monday afternoon hours after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced the charges against him.
Nathan Hochman, the LA district attorney, said during a press conference on Monday that Burke engaged in a s£xual relationship with Celeste. He faces a murd£r charge with special circumstances, as well as charges for continuous lewd and lascivious sexual acts with an individual under 14, and mutilating human remains. Hochman described the killing as a “brutal and horrific murder”.
The arrest and charges have marked the most significant development in the case since the teen’s remains were found in Burke’s vehicle last September.
Attorneys for the Houston-born alt-pop singer said he was innocent in a statement released after homicide detectives arrested him on Thursday at a home in Hollywood.
“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 de@th,” the lawyers said.
During an earlier press conference on Monday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said that on 23 April 2025, Rivas Hernandez went to Burke’s house in the Hollywood Hills and “she was never heard from again”.
Her dismembered and decomposed remains were found on 8 September 2025 – when the investigation first began – in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke, court documents said.
When authorities removed the bag, they discovered severed arms and legs inside, the documents said.
“A parent’s nightmare is a situation where your daughter goes out one night and never comes back,” Hochman said.
He announced three sets of charges against the singer.
The first is first-degree murd£r with special circumstances of “lying in wait”.
The second is an additional special circumstance of alleged murder for “financial gain”. Hochman accused Burke of murdering the 14-year-old to maintain his lucrative musical career “that Celeste was threatening on that particular night”.
The third charge is murdering a witness to an investigation. He said evidence shows Rivas Hernandez was a witness in an investigation of s£xual acts committed by Burke.
Hochman added that the charges involve numerous sexual acts with a minor and the mutilation of a body.
The DA’s office could eventually seek the de@th penalty in the case, he added.