A Los Angeles County-based musician allegedly dumped evidence of a Riverside County teenager’s murder off Santa Barbara’s Highway 154 near Lake Cachuma the night of her murder last year and in the months following, prosecutors say.
David Anthony Burke, 21, who goes by his stage name D4vd, was arrested and charged last month in Los Angeles County Superior Court with the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. He has pleaded not guilty.
He was also charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains, as well as several special circumstances: allegations of murder of a witness, murder for financial gain and lying in wait.
He remains in police custody with no bail.
He is next set to appear before the court in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Prosecutors allege that Burke killed Rivas Hernandez to prevent her from going public about their alleged sexual relationship, which would damage his musical career.
“This horrific and gruesome murder committed by the charged sexual predator is shocking and appalling. To Celeste’s loved ones, we will get the justice you seek and deserve,” Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.
Rivas Hernandez’s dismembered and decomposed body was found in the front truck of Burke’s impounded Tesla in September 2025 inside a black cadaver bag.
Court documents state that surveillance video and other evidence show Burke was the last person to drive the vehicle in July before he left Los Angeles for a concert tour. The vehicle had been towed from near his Los Angeles-area house because it was ruled abandoned.
Burke is accused of stabbing “the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out” on April 23, 2025, and later dismembering her body, according to the criminal complaint.
The pair fought over text messages on April 22 about his other relationships, and he sent an Uber to her home to bring her to his home in the Hollywood Hills the night of April 23.
Prosecutors allege that Burke drove to Santa Barbara County up Highway 154 near Lake Cachuma “immediately after the victim died” and attempted “to dispose of her property and destroy evidence.”
Documents do not state the exact evidence. Burke returned to his home early on April 24, 2025, per court documents.
He returned to that same area, “an isolated side off SR-154,” at least two more times, and Rivas Hernandez’s passport card was found in that area by a CalTrans worker earlier this year, according to court documents.
Court documents also state that Burke purchased tools under a fake name from Amazon and Home Depot that he allegedly used to “dismember and dispose” of her body. Blue fragments from an inflatable pool Burke allegedly purchased to put Rivas Hernandez’s body in were found “embedded in the victim’s remains,” per court documents.
According to court documents, Rivas Hernandez and Burke met in January 2022 when she was 11 years old. Documents do not state how they met.
They allegedly began a sexual relationship in November 2023 when she was 13 and Burke was 18.
Rivas Hernandez was reported missing by her family multiple times in early 2024. At that time, Burke, identified by his cell phone number on Rivas Hernandez’s cell phone, told police “he was unaware she was a minor or that she had been reported missing,” court documents state.
After she returned home, Burke allegedly paid one of Rivas Hernandez’s classmates $1,000 to give her a cell phone he had purchased so they could stay in contact, court documents allege.
Documents also state that the pair spent a “significant amount of time” together, and that they traveled to Las Vegas, London and Texas, as well as repeatedly to his home in the Hollywood Hills.
Their sexual relationship was corroborated by text messages between the two, which referred to “sex, pregnancy and abortion” and Plan B, as well as explicit photographs, per court documents.
The pair had matching tattoos, and one of Rivas Hernandez’s fingers was tattooed with Burke’s first name. Her ring and pinky fingers were not found with the rest of her body, court documents state.
Burke, if convicted, faces life in prison or the death penalty. Hochman said the decision whether to seek the death penalty has not yet been made.
Burke rose to fame in 2022, after the release of two singles that became popular. He was also known for his connection to Fortnite, a popular video game; he created popular Fortnite gameplay montages that he posted to YouTube. One of his songs became the game’s theme song last year.
Game developer and publisher Epic Games has since offered refunds for Burke’s content and removed it from the game.
Burke’s first studio album was set for release on April 25, 2025, days after prosecutors say he killed Rivas Hernandez.
