Cause of Death Revealed for Teen Girl Allegedly Killed by Singer D4vd

Published: 4/22/2026, 10:21:05 PM EDT

Cause of Death Revealed for Teen Girl Allegedly Killed by Singer D4vd — LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell walks past an image of Celeste Rivas Hernandez in Los Angeles on April 20, 2026, after a press conference regarding the case of singer D4vd, who was charged on suspicion of killing the 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in his car. (Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo)

The cause of death has been officially disclosed for Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 15-year-old girl whose dismembered body was discovered inside an impounded Tesla last year.

The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner announced on Wednesday that Rivas Hernandez died from multiple penetrating injuries caused by an object or objects, and that the manner of death has been ruled a homicide.

The findings had been completed months earlier—on Dec. 9, 2025—but had been withheld from the public under a court order obtained by the Los Angeles Police Department. The order was lifted ahead of the announcement.

"After several months, I am grateful this information can now be released, not only to the public, but also to the grieving family enduring loss," Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odey Ukpo said in the release. "It is unfathomable they have had to wait this long to learn what happened to their daughter."

Rivas Hernandez's remains were found on the morning of Sept. 8, 2025—one day after what would have been her 15th birthday—inside the front trunk of a Tesla that had been towed from an upscale Hollywood Hills neighborhood. A detective with the LAPD pronounced her death at the scene.

A deputy medical examiner conducted an examination of the teenager two days later, on Sept. 10, 2025, at the department's Forensic Science Center.

The condition of her remains was deeply disturbing. When investigators arrived at the tow yard, they found a cadaver bag "covered with insects and a strong odor of decay," grand jury subpoena documents stated. After partially unzipping the bag, detectives found a decomposed head and torso. When medical examiner investigators removed the bag entirely, they found that the arms and legs had been severed from the body. A second black bag found underneath contained additional dismembered body parts, according to the same court documents.

Charges Against the Singer

D4vd—whose legal name is David Burke—was arrested by LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division on April 17 and charged days later by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office with first-degree murder. He is being held without bail.

Prosecutors allege Burke killed Rivas Hernandez using a sharp object on or around April 23, 2025—the date she was last known to be alive, and was allegedly heading to the singer's Hollywood Hills home—and mutilated her body roughly two weeks later. A criminal complaint also alleges he had subjected Rivas Hernandez to continuous sexual abuse from September 2023 to September 2024, when she was between 12 and 14 years old.

The murder charges carry special circumstances—including lying in wait, committing a crime for financial gain, and killing a witness in an investigation—that could make the case death-penalty eligible. Burke also faces charges of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14 and mutilating a body. Prosecutors have not announced whether they will seek the death penalty.

Burke's attorneys maintain his innocence. "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," his lawyers said in a statement following his arrest.