D4vd's legal team is speaking out. Just one day after the singer (whose real name is David Anthony Burke) was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department for the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, his lawyers vehemently deny his involvement in the 15-year-old's death. "Let us be clear," his attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter stated in a statement to People on April 17. "The actual evidence in this case will unequivocally show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and was not the cause of her demise." They 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 fight tooth and nail to defend David’s innocence." D4vd is currently being held without bail, according to the LAPD. E! News has reached out to reps for D4vd but has not received a response yet.
The 21-year-old's arrest comes less than two months after he was named in a grand jury murder investigation into the death of Rivas Hernandez. He was referred to as a "target" of the grand jury case in a court petition for the attendance of an out-of-state witness obtained by E! News at the time. Rivas Hernandez's body was found on Sept. 8 in the trunk of a Tesla registered to D4vd's Texas address. Police responded to reports of a foul odor coming from the car, which was in a Hollywood tow yard after having been reported abandoned in the Hollywood Hills. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed the remains belonged to the teen on Sept. 16, although her cause of death was deferred, according to records viewed by E! News on Sept. 17.
Rivas Hernandez—who had been reported missing from Lake Elsinore, Calif., in April 2024 when she was 13 years old—had her date of death listed as Sept. 8, although officials noted that her body had been in the car for an extended period before it was found and was "severely decomposed." After her body was discovered, detectives served a search warrant for the home near which the Tesla had been parked in the Hollywood Hills, according to the Los Angeles Times. Law enforcement sources told ABC News that D4vd had been staying in the home before embarking on his Withered World Tour in August, which he later cancelled in September.
Rivas Hernandez's family also spoke out after the incident, remembering her as a "beloved daughter, sister, cousin, and friend." "As many of you know, Celeste Rivas Hernandez has been identified as the body found last week," a statement shared to a GoFundMe page created on Sept. 17 read. "Her family is heartbroken and devastated by this tragic loss. They are seeking help to lay her body to rest."
