The family of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 14-year-old girl whose dismembered remains authorities say were found in D4vd’s towed Tesla last year, is speaking out for the first time after the singer was charged in the teen’s alleged murder.
D4vd — a 21-year-old Los Angeles resident whose legal name is David Burke — was arrested last week following a monthslong investigation and charged Monday with first-degree murder in connection with Rivas Hernandez’s death.
LAKE ELSINORE, CA – SEPTEMBER 25, 2025: Photographs, intimate notes, and flowers are among the items left at a memorial on Thursday for slain teen Celeste Rivas Hernandez who was found dead in the trunk of a Tesla in a Hollywood tow yard on September 25, 2025 in Lake Elsinore, California.
Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
In a statement released through the family’s attorney on Tuesday, the teen’s parents thanked the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office “for their hard work” and for the community’s support.
“Celeste was a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance,” her parents, Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez, said. “Every Friday night was movie night and we spent wonderful times together.”
“We love her very much and she always told us that she loved us. We miss her deeply,” the statement continued. “All we want is justice for Celeste.”
Members of the teen’s family attended D4vd’s first court appearance on Monday. The family’s attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, said in a statement following D4vd’s arrest that the family “is committed to ensuring that Celeste’s voice is heard and her memory is honored throughout this process.”
D4vd faces a slew of charges and special circumstances alleging he continuously committed “lewd and lascivious sexual acts” with the teen while she was under the age of 14, and that he killed her for financial gain “to maintain his very lucrative musical career that Celeste was threatening” to expose, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said during a press briefing on Monday. The charges also allege he unlawfully mutilated human remains, Hochman said.
A not guilty plea was entered on D4vd’s behalf during his arraignment on Monday, and he remains held on no bail.
The booking photo for the singer D4vd — whose real name is David Burke — is shown during a press briefing in Los Angeles on April 20, 2026.
LAPD
D4vd’s attorneys have maintained the “Romantic Homicide” singer’s innocence since his arrest last Thursday.
“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,” his attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter said in a statement on Monday. “We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”
Rivas Hernandez, a reported runaway from Riverside County, was last known to be alive on April 23, 2025, when she arrived at D4vd’s home in the Hollywood Hills, according to Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. She was never heard from again, Hochman said.
On Sept. 8, 2025, her badly decomposed, dismembered body was found in the trunk of D4vd’s abandoned, impounded Tesla at a Hollywood tow yard, officials said.
Her head and torso were found in one bag, and her arms and legs in another, according to the court documents from Hochman filed in connection with a Los Angeles County grand jury investigation in connection with the teen’s death.
David Anthony Burke, whose stage name is D4vd, is arraigned Monday, April 20, 2026, in Los Angeles on charges of killing a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in his car. (Ted Soqui/Pool Photo via AP)
The Associated Press
The Tesla had been at the impound lot for two days after being found abandoned on a Hollywood street, investigators said. The towed vehicle was registered to Burke. Officers had responded to the impound lot “for a foul odor coming from a vehicle,” Los Angeles police said.
The teen may have been dead for several weeks before her body was discovered, police said. Her remains were found a day after her 15th birthday, according to her death certificate.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has made a determination on how she died, according to Hochman. The medical examiner’s findings in the case are sealed.
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