D4vd Arrested After Body Found in Tesla as Los Angeles Case Moves Forward
D4vd has been arrested on suspicion of murder in Los Angeles after police found the severely decomposed body of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez in the trunk of his impounded Tesla. The arrest was announced on Thursday, April 16, 2026 ET, and investigators said the case will be submitted to the District Attorney’s office on Monday for filing consideration. The Los Angeles Police Department said David Burke, 21, is being held without bail.
Arrest follows months of sealed investigation
The case centers on remains discovered on Sept. 8, 2025, after authorities opened the trunk of a Tesla that had been impounded in Los Angeles. Police said the vehicle had been towed days earlier from the Bird Streets neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills after the tow yard reported that it was giving off a foul odor and attracting flies. D4vd was out of state on a national tour at the time, and the vehicle was later examined by investigators.
The Los Angeles Police Department said detectives from its Robbery-Homicide Division arrested Burke, identifying him as a Los Angeles resident. The department said he was taken into custody on Thursday and is being held without bail while the case moves toward review by prosecutors. A court order had previously barred the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner from releasing autopsy findings during the sealed phase of the investigation.
What investigators found
Inside the trunk, investigators found the remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez in a black garbage bag. The medical examiner’s office described the body as severely decomposed and said the teen appeared to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period before being found. The office listed the cause of death as deferred at the time.
Rivas was identified by friends and family as a missing teen from Lake Elsinore, about 75 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Family missing-person notices had been filed in February 2024 and again in April 2024. The medical examiner said the condition of the body was so severe that eye color could not be distinguished, and the victim’s weight was listed as 71 pounds.
D4vd and the case around him
D4vd, born David Anthony Burke, was 20 at the time the vehicle was recovered and later became the focus of the investigation. The musician’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment in the material provided, and the Los Angeles Police Department has not given details beyond the arrest announcement and the planned presentation to prosecutors.
The case has also drawn attention because of the long gap between the vehicle being recovered and the arrest becoming public. In November, investigators had already identified the 20-year-old artist as a suspect, and the sealed nature of the inquiry kept many findings out of public view during the months that followed.
Immediate reaction and next steps
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office had objected to the security hold on its findings, saying it kept the agency from serving the community with full transparency. That friction underscored how tightly controlled the investigation had been before Thursday’s announcement.
For now, the next step is the District Attorney’s review on Monday, when prosecutors will decide whether to move ahead with filing. D4vd remains in custody without bail as the Los Angeles case enters its next phase, and investigators have not released additional public details beyond the arrest and the planned filing review.
