Prosecutors Say Singer D4vd Ordered Chainsaws from Amazon to Dismember Teen
LOS ANGELES — Alternative pop singer D4vd has been charged with sexual abuse, murder and mutilation of the body of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose decomposed remains were found in her apparently abandoned Tesla seven months ago, Los Angeles County prosecutors said.
The allegations in the disturbing case date back to 2023 – just a year after the singer’s first single hit the Billboard Hot 100. The 21-year-old has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers have said he was not responsible for her death.
Here’s a look at the timeline of the investigation, allegations and career of D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke.
2022: Burke’s music goes viral
Burke, a content creator who began creating his own music to accompany the video game montages he posted online, is going viral on TikTok for his song “Romantic Homicide.” The song ultimately peaked at #4 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, and Burke signed with Darkroom and Interscope Records.
November 2023: Prosecutors say abuse began
Burke allegedly began sexually abusing 13-year-old Rivas Hernandez, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. She was described by authorities as a runaway, and court documents indicate she lived with Burke in Los Angeles.
February 17, 2024: Investigators first contact Burke about Rivas Hernandez
Investigators said Rivas Hernandez had been reported missing from her home in Lake Elsinore, a town about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, several times before her death. According to prosecutors, Riverside County authorities contacted Burke about him when he went missing. He told authorities he did not know she was a minor and that his last contact with her was a few days earlier. Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies searched Burke’s home for Rivas Hernandez and also informed him that she was 13 years old.
She returned home two days later, prosecutors said, and her parents confiscated her phone. They allege that Burke paid a classmate of Rivas Hernandez $1,000 to give her a phone so he could stay in touch with her.
April 5, 2024: Rivas Hernández goes missing
The family of Rivas Hernandez is last reporting that the seventh grader is missing from his home in Lake Elsinore.
Prosecutors say that in the months that followed, she spent a lot of time with the singer and traveled with him to Las Vegas, London and Texas to meet his family.
November 2024: The two separate
Burke and Rivas Hernandez “broke up” but continued to have contact, according to prosecutors. She returned to her home in Lake Elsinore at one point.
April 11, 2025: Burke makes his Coachella debut
Burke performs at the Coachella music festival and goes viral again – this time for face-planting on stage during a failed backflip attempt. In an interview with The Associated Press during the festival, Burke talked about using fan feedback on social media to refine his set lists. “I’m my fans and my fans are me. And we work in tandem with each other and it’s such a beautiful poetic thing that we have,” he said.
April 22, 2025: Rivas Hernandez and Burke argue via text message
“The messages reveal the victim’s jealousy of the defendant’s relationships with other women because the defendant led her to believe they had a future together,” prosecutors said in a document presenting evidence in the case.
April 23, 2025: Rivas Hernández is last known to be alive
Prosecutors say they believe Burke stabbed Rivas Hernandez to death “on or about this date” April 23, the day they say she was last heard from. Prosecutors say Burke killed Rivas Hernandez because she threatened to expose their inappropriate relationship and posed a threat to his career.
Burke sent a rideshare car to pick Rivas Hernandez up from her Lake Elsinore home and drop her off at her Hollywood Hills home around 10:10 that evening.
Prosecutors say Burke sent text messages starting at 10:30 p.m. asking Rivas Hernandez where she was to hide that he had killed her.
At 11:30 p.m., he texted Rivas Hernandez’s cell again asking where she was and left her home to go to a remote area in Santa Barbara County.
April 24, 2025: Burke ordered a shovel online
Prosecutors say Burke used the delivery app Postmates to have a shovel delivered to his home.
April 25, 2025: Burke releases his debut album, “Withered”
Burke releases his debut album, “Withered”. In his social media posts and media interviews, he describes using a recurring motif in his music and videos: an alter ego character he calls “IT4MI”, after “itami”, a Japanese word meaning pain. “He’s basically like the evil version of me,” Burke said in a YouTube interview with the “Tape Notes” podcast released in May 2025. Burke’s videos sometimes show the character blindfolded, in a shirt that appears to be covered in blood.
May 1, 2025: additional tools are ordered
Burke ordered two chainsaws delivered to his home, according to prosecutors. They were ordered under a false name.
May 5, 2025: Authorities say Rivas Hernández’s remains are mutilated
One of the criminal charges against Burke is “unlawful mutilation of human remains.” Prosecutors say Rivas Hernández’s arms and legs were cut from his body around May 5.
In a later filing, prosecutors allege that Burke cut Rivas Hernandez into an inflatable pool in his garage. DNA evidence matching his was later found in the area.
Burke returned to the remote part of Santa Barbara County two more times and Rivas Hernandez’s passport was found in the area in January 2026, according to a prosecution filing.
They also allege that Burke kept the girl’s body in the front trunk of his Tesla. “He lied to his friends, associates and others who noticed the strong smell of rot in and around his home and vehicle,” prosecutors said in a filing.
In late July, before embarking on a tour, Burke parked the car around the corner from his house.
August 5, 2025: Burke launches his tour
Burke’s tour for the album “Withered” begins with a concert in Del Mar, California. He also released an official Fortnite anthem, “Locked & Loaded”, on September 3. The collaboration with video game maker Epic Games echoes his early days in the music world, when he created and posted Fortnite montages online.
September 8, 2025: the body of Celeste Rivas Hernández is discovered
A day after she would have turned 15, Rivas Hernandez’s badly decomposed remains were discovered in body bags inside the trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke, according to prosecutors. The 2023 Tesla Model Y had been towed from an upscale neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills where it sat, apparently abandoned. Police searching the vehicle found a bug-covered corpse bag with Rivas Hernández’s head and torso inside. A second bag containing his arms and legs was found under the first, according to court documents.
September 17, 2025: search of Burke’s home
Authorities searched Burke’s home and found blood evidence matching Rivas Hernandez’s DNA. They also found the inflatable pool that they say was used to dismember her, with several cut marks, according to a court filing.
September 19, 2025: Remaining Burke tour dates canceled
The remaining dates of Burke’s tour, which was scheduled to end November 4 in Warsaw, Poland, are canceled. The AP confirmed that he was also dropped by his label, Interscope Records, at some point in 2025.
October 6, 2025: A funeral service is held for Rivas Hernández
Multiple media outlets reported that Rivas Hernandez’s family held a funeral service for her at Queen of Heaven Cemetery and Mortuary in Rowland Heights, California.
November 24, 2025: Police block publication of coroner’s report
In an unusual move, police block the release of the coroner’s report into the death of Rivas Hernández. The medical examiner’s office said in a statement that it had received “a court order, initiated by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), to place the case under surveillance.” The order states that no records or details, including the cause and manner of death, may be released until further notice.
February 2026: Burke revealed as target of secret grand jury investigation
The grand jury investigation into the case was kept under seal, as is standard in grand jury proceedings. But some documents were made public through a subpoena appeal filed in Texas by Burke’s mother, father and brother. Court documents state that the Tesla was registered in Burke’s name to the address of his family members subpoenaed, and that “the target may be involved in the commission of the following criminal offenses against the laws of the State of California, namely: one count of murder.”
April 16, 2026: Burke is arrested
Burke is arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of Rivas Hernandez and is being held without bail. The Los Angeles Police Department announced the arrest on social media pages, posting photos of several officers wearing tactical gear and holding weapons approaching a home.
April 20, 2025: Burke is charged with murder
Burke is formally charged with murder, lewd and lascivious acts on a person under the age of 14 and mutilation of a body. Charging documents also outline several factors related to the crimes that could lead to a harsher sentence if Burke is convicted. These circumstances include allegations that Burke was “waiting for” Rivas Hernandez, who entered his home and was never seen again; that she witnessed an investigation into the lewd and lascivious acts committed against her; and that Burke allegedly killed her for financial gain.
