David Burke, a 21-year-old musician known professionally as ⁠D4vd, pleaded not guilty on Monday to first-degree murder and other charges in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, months after her dismembered body was found inside the trunk of his Tesla.

D4vd was charged with murder with special circumstances of lying in wait, committing a crime for financial gain, and murdering a witness in an investigation. He faces a maximum prison sentence of life without parole. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said prosecutors would decide later whether to seek the death penalty.

The musician's attorneys said they would "vigorously defend David's innocence."

"The actual evidence in this case will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death," attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter said in an emailed statement.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said Celeste's decomposed and dismembered remains were found in September 2025 in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to D4vd. She had been missing for nearly a year and a half when the remains were discovered in the car, separated into two bags, Hochman said.

The vehicle had been parked for weeks in a Hollywood Hills neighbourhood before being towed to an impound lot, where workers reported a foul odour.

Hochman said an investigation revealed that D4vd was involved in a sexual relationship with Celeste when he was an adult and she was a minor. In addition to murder, he was charged with continuous sexual acts, lewd and lascivious sexual acts with an individual under 14 years old and mutilating human remains of a body.

The district attorney said Celeste was killed in a "brutal and horrific" crime but that he would wait until a coroner's report was made public before disclosing her cause of death.

Hochman said authorities believed Celeste went to D4vd's Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, and "was never heard from again."

D4vd gained fame in 2022 after songs he recorded on his phone for his Fortnite gaming videos went viral on TikTok, with the hit "Romantic Homicide" helping him sign a deal with Interscope Records. (Reuters)



Edited by Cecil Wong