Los Angeles (AP) — Singer d4vd has been arrested on suspicion of killing a 14-year-old girl whose decomposed physique was discovered seven months in the past in his apparently deserted Tesla, authorities stated Thursday, whereas his attorneys declared his innocence.
Los Angeles police stated in a transient assertion that murder detectives arrested the 21-year-old Houston-born alt-pop singer whose authorized identify is David Burke, on suspicion of homicide within the investigation of the killing of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
Defense attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter responded in an e-mail: “Let us be clear — 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.”
Police stated investigators would current a case to prosecutors on the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office on Monday. The workplace stated in its personal assertion that it’s conscious of the arrest and its Major Crimes Division will evaluate the case to find out whether or not there may be sufficient proof to file expenses.
The protection attorneys added, “There has been no indictment returned by any grand jury in this case and no criminal complaint filed. David has only been detained under suspicion. We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”
It was their first public assertion on the case. Authorities didn’t publicly identify Burke as a suspect till his arrest. He was being held in jail with out bail.
The singer had been underneath investigation by an LA County grand jury wanting into the dying of Rivas Hernandez. The probe was formally secret, however its existence — and the designation of d4vd as its goal — was revealed on Feb. 25 when his mom, father and brother filed an objection in a Texas courtroom to subpoenas demanding they testify.
The long-dead physique of Rivas Hernandez was present in a Tesla towed from the Hollywood Hills on Sept. 8, a day after she would have turned 15. She was a 13-year-old seventh grader when her household reported her lacking in 2024 from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Authorities give her age as 14 when she was killed in courtroom paperwork.
The 2023 Tesla Model Y was registered within the singer’s identify on the Texas handle of his subpoenaed relations, based on courtroom filings from prosecutors. It had been towed from an upscale neighborhood within the Hollywood Hills the place it had been sitting, seemingly deserted.
Police investigators looking the Tesla in a tow yard discovered a cadaver bag “covered with insects and a strong odor of decay,” courtroom paperwork stated, and “detectives partially unzipped the bag and observed a decomposed head and torso.”
Investigators from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office eliminated the bag and “discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body,” based on courtroom paperwork. A second black bag was discovered underneath the primary, and dismembered physique components had been inside it. No trigger of dying has been publicly revealed.
D4vd, pronounced “David,” gained reputation amongst Generation Z followers for his mix of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit “Romantic Homicide,” which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He then signed with Darkroom and Interscope Records and launched his debut EP “Petals to Thorns” and a follow-up, “The Lost Petals,” in 2023.
When the physique was found, d4vd had been on tour in assist of his first full-length album, “Withered.” Later, the final two North American exhibits, in San Francisco and Los Angeles, together with a scheduled efficiency at LA’s Grammy Museum, had been canceled, as was the European tour that was to have begun in Norway.
This story has been up to date with further data.
Correction:
A earlier model of this story offered the incorrect age for d4vd. He is 21.