R&B Singer D4vd Now Suspect in 15-Year-Old Celeste Rivas Hernandez Homicide After Body Found in Tesla

When the dismembered body of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found in the front trunk of a Tesla at a Los Angeles tow yard on September 8, 2025, authorities initially treated it as a grim but isolated discovery. Now, nearly three months later, the case has taken a shocking turn: David Anthony Burke, better known as the rising R&B artist D4vd, is being formally considered a suspect in her homicide — a development confirmed by KTLA 5 on November 19, 2025. The timing is chilling. Hernandez had been reported missing since late 2024. Her body, investigators now believe, was hidden for months — possibly since the spring of 2025 — while Burke toured the country, performing to sold-out crowds and posting polished videos from his Los Angeles rental home, just a block from where the Tesla was towed.

The Discovery That Changed Everything

The Tesla, registered to Burke, was impounded after a traffic violation led to a routine inspection. What officers found inside the front trunk — a dismembered female torso wrapped in plastic and sealed with industrial-grade tape — sent shockwaves through the LAPD’s homicide division. The victim’s identity was confirmed through dental records and DNA matching missing persons databases. Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a quiet high school sophomore from South Los Angeles, had vanished without a trace over a year ago. Her disappearance had barely made headlines. Her death, however, has become impossible to ignore.

What makes this case even more disturbing is the timeline. The medical examiner determined Hernandez had been dead for at least four to five months before the body was found. That places her death firmly in the spring of 2025 — a period when Burke was actively promoting his debut album, performing in Phoenix, Austin, and Chicago. He wasn’t in Los Angeles. But here’s the twist: investigators have since tracked a mysterious, unexplained trip Burke made to a remote stretch of Santa Barbara County in March 2025. Surveillance footage from a gas station near Gaviota shows his Tesla pulling off the highway at 2:17 a.m. He stayed for nearly five hours. No one saw him leave the vehicle. No one saw him return.

Who Is D4vd? And Why Does It Matter?

David Anthony Burke, 20, rose to fame in 2023 with a hauntingly atmospheric sound blending R&B, electronic beats, and lo-fi melancholy. His YouTube channel, built on raw, self-shot videos filmed in his bedroom, amassed millions of views. He became the voice of a generation of Gen Z listeners who found solace in his lyrics about isolation and longing. His public persona was fragile, poetic — the kind of artist fans felt they knew intimately. But behind closed doors, investigators say, the picture may be far darker.

Neighbors who lived near his Hollywood Hills rental told KTLA they rarely saw him outside after dusk. One said he’d hear the Tesla’s electric motor hum late at night — “like a ghost pulling out of the driveway.” Another recalled seeing him unloading large black trash bags into a dumpster behind the building in early April 2025. “They were heavy,” the neighbor said. “And they smelled… wrong.”

Retired LAPD detective Moses Castillo, who consulted on the case for KTLA, told reporters: “This isn’t a crime of passion. This is calculated. The dismemberment, the concealment — this is someone who knew how to avoid detection. And if he was alone? That’s terrifying. But if he had help? That’s a whole new nightmare.”

Was There an Accomplice?

That’s the question now dominating the investigation. KTLA’s November 20, 2025 report, timestamped at 0:39, bluntly stated: “THIS AS A HOMICIDE. PLUS NEW REPORTS ARE SURFACING THAT THE SINGER MAY HAVE HAD HELP DISPOSING OF HER BODY.”

Investigators are now reviewing security footage from nearby convenience stores, gas stations, and even traffic cameras along the route between Burke’s home and the Santa Barbara location. They’re also interviewing people who worked with him during his spring tour — tour managers, drivers, stagehands. One source told KTLA that a man matching the description of a former high school friend of Burke’s, now living in Ventura County, was seen near the tow yard the day before the Tesla was impounded. His name has not been released.

Forensic teams have also begun analyzing the tape used to seal the body. It’s not the kind you buy at Home Depot. It’s a commercial-grade, heat-sealed industrial tape — the kind used in warehouse logistics. Who in Burke’s circle had access to that? The LAPD hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a professional accomplice.

What’s Next for the Investigation?

As of mid-November 2025, detectives confirmed to KTLA that David Anthony Burke is under constant surveillance. His phone, social media accounts, and financial records are being mined for any trace of communication with Hernandez or suspicious transactions around the time of her disappearance. His music label, Interscope Records, has suspended all promotional activity and is cooperating fully with authorities.

Meanwhile, Hernandez’s family — who live in a modest home in the Florence neighborhood of South LA — are still waiting for answers. Her mother, Maria Rivas, told a local reporter: “They said she ran away. I told them, no. She wouldn’t leave without her books. Without her cat. Without saying goodbye.”

The case is now officially classified as a homicide. And while Burke has not been arrested — and has not publicly responded — the weight of evidence is mounting. Surveillance footage. Unexplained travel. A vehicle used to hide a body. And now, whispers of someone else who may have helped.

Why This Case Resonates Beyond the Headlines

This isn’t just another celebrity scandal. It’s a brutal reminder of how easily the lives of marginalized teens — especially young women of color — can be erased from public consciousness. Celeste Rivas Hernandez was reported missing for over a year before her body was found. No viral hashtag. No Amber Alert. No nightly news segments. Only when the evidence was physically, undeniably present — inside a luxury electric car owned by a famous musician — did the system wake up.

It’s a pattern we’ve seen before. From the case of Gabriella “Gabi” Rodriguez in 2018, whose body was found in a storage unit after months of silence, to the 2021 disappearance of Nia Wilson, whose death sparked national outrage only after video evidence surfaced. The difference here? This time, the suspect isn’t a stranger. He’s someone millions of fans thought they understood.

As one LAPD detective told KTLA off-camera: “We don’t arrest monsters. We arrest people who look like your neighbor, your kid’s favorite singer, your Instagram follow. And that’s what makes this case so hard to process.”