By Kyung Lah, Rachel Clarke, CNN
(CNN) — Singer d4vd has been named as the “target” in a murder investigation surrounding the death and mutilation of a 14-year-old girl.
d4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, “may be involved in having committed the following criminal offenses against the laws of the State of California, to wit: One Count of Murder,” according to the court papers obtained by CNN.
The young victim, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, was found in a black Tesla registered to Burke on September 8, 2025. The car, apparently abandoned in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, had been towed to a police impound yard.
Detectives opened the front trunk of the car and saw a cadaver bag covered with insects, the documents say. There was also a “strong odor of decay,” according to the statement from Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman.
According to Silverman, the officers unzipped the bag and saw a decomposed head and torso.
Specialists from the medical examiner’s department were then called in to process the remains.
“Upon removing the cadaver bag from the front storage compartment, it was discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body,” the court papers detailed.
“A second black bag was discovered under the cadaver bag. Upon opening the second bag, the dismembered body parts were discovered.”
The records of the medical examiner have now been sealed. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office has not responded to CNN inquiries about the case.
The court papers are contained in records from Texas, requesting multiple members of Burke’s family appear for questioning by a Los Angeles grand jury. A Texas judge ordered them to attend.
CNN twice contacted Burke’s attorney, who declined to comment. We have also reached out to Burke’s management company Mogul Vision multiple ways but have not heard back.
A US tour by d4vd had continued last September after the discovery of the girl’s remains, but dates were then canceled. CNN understands from a source that Burke has left the rental home in the Hollywood Hills where he had been living.
Burke, 20, became well-known in 2022 on TikTok and in Fortnite and then on more mainstream media, with songs including “Romantic Homicide.”
Celeste’s body was discovered the day after her 15th birthday, but the court documents say she was killed when she was 14.
The Associated Press reported that she had been listed as missing in 2025.
The-CNN-Wire
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