D4vd murder case: Family of teenage victim ‘shocked’ by horrific details revealed in court
The family of a girl who was mutilated and killed, allegedly by up-and-coming singer D4vd, said they were shocked and appalled by the details revealed in court this week, according to a statement released by the family’s lawyer.
In a briefing filed in court on Wednesday, Deputy Dist. He said. Beth Silverman alleges that David Anthony Burke, who plays D4vd, hid his sexual assault for a long time from Celeste Rivas Hernandez, 14, lured her to his Hollywood mansion, stabbed her and let her bleed to death, then used a “saw and other tools” to cut her fingers to remove two of her tattoos.
Burke, 21, is charged with murder, sexual abuse of a minor and mutilation of a corpse. Prosecutors say he killed Hernandez because he threatened to expose his abuse and ruin his music career. Prosecutors say Burke bought a shovel, two saws, a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, a “burn box”, and a blue inflatable pool as part of a plan to dispose of her body.
“There are no words to express the indescribable pain the family is going through right now,” said attorney Patrick Steinfeld on behalf of the family. “They still have bills to pay and jobs to go to every day. All they want is time to grieve and heal.”
He said informing the family of the gruesome details was the most difficult thing he has done in his 37-year legal career.
“In the beginning I encouraged the family of Rivas Hernandez to speak publicly during the criminal process. They agreed with the full support of Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman. However, due to the terrible information that appears almost every day, the family decided not to make any statements now or in the future,” he added.
A nine-page prosecutor’s brief details an abusive relationship between the singer and the girl that allegedly began when she was 11 years old and ended with her murder in April 2025. In the days after Hernandez’s death, Burke used an inflatable pool to contain Hernandez’s body while the singer disinterred her remains in the garage, according to court records. they will present their case to the judge that there is enough evidence for Burke to be tried. Pieces of plastic were found in the lake embedded in Hernandez’s remains, the document said.
Hernandez’s badly decomposed body was found in the trunk of Burke’s Tesla at a Hollywood tow yard in September. Authorities said Hernandez was last seen at Burke’s Hollywood residence on April 23, 2025. The two got into a “long argument” the night before, during which Hernandez expressed jealousy over Burke’s relationships with other women and “threatened to reveal damaging information about her relationship with the defendant in order to end her career and destroy her life,” Silverman said.
On the night police believe Hernandez was killed, according to court records, the singer ordered an Uber to pick him up at his home in Lake Elsinore in Hollywood around 8:40 p.m.
An autopsy report made public last week revealed that Hernandez died from stab wounds. Prosecutors allege that Burke cut off two of Hernandez’s fingers to remove evidence of a painting Hernandez found on the artist’s behalf.
Hernandez was reported to have disappeared from her family several times in Lake Elsinore in 2024. Riverside County sheriff’s investigators asked Burke about her whereabouts in February 2024, but Burke said she “didn’t know she was a minor or had been reported missing,” Silverman wrote.
Two days later, he returned home and his parents took away his cell phone. But Burke allegedly drove to Lake Elsinore and paid the high school junior $1,000 to give her a new phone so they could stay in touch, according to the document filed Wednesday. The following year, Hernandez traveled with the singer to Las Vegas, Texas and London where he met “his family,” Silverman wrote.
Burke’s lead attorney, Blair Berk, has not responded to the new filing or returned a request for comment. He insisted that his client did not kill the child. A hearing is scheduled for May 26.
