David Anthony Burke, the 20-year-old singer best known as D4vd, burst onto the scene as a Gen Z music success story. He started making songs at 16 in his sister's closet to avoid copyright strikes on his gaming montages. That quickly turned into him becoming a viral senxsation across social media platforms and securing a record deal from a major label. His emotionally raw and genre-blending sound, often categorized as alternative indie, R&B, and pop, brought him out of obscurity and into a career with a dedicated fanbase, collaborations with names like 21 Savage, Kali Uchis, and The Kid LAROI, and an international headlining tour. However, the meteoric rise of the singer, now 20, has recently been overshadowed by a significant legal investigation.
On September 8, 2025, human remains were discovered in the trunk of a Tesla in a Los Angeles impound lot. The Tesla was registered under D4vd’s government name. The body itself was badly decomposed and dismembered, believed to have been there for an extended period of time.
Eight days later, LAPD identified the body as Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Rivas was a 15-year-old who went missing from her hometown, Lake Elsinore, back in April 2024. Since then, even more grisly details and allegations have come out. After flying back to Los Angeles, D4vd canceled the rest of his Withered Tour. This investigation is still ongoing, but this is everything we know about D4vd and the information we currently have about his apparent relationship with the deceased.
D4vd’s Origins
D4vd was born in Queens, New York, on March 28, 2005. He later relocated to Houston, Texas, in his youth. He grew up in a religious household, listening to strictly gospel music until he was 13. At school, he discovered acts like Lil Pump and XXXTentacion at school, which helped shape his non-gospel interests.
The singer is also an avid gamer, with his game of choice being Fortnite. He used clips from his gameplay to create montages of his best moments. He started creating his own songs after YouTube kept flagging his montages for copyright infringement. D4vd’s made his first songs using his phone and the popular free music production app BandLab. The results, with their DIY aesthetics and Juice WRLD-like “hopeless romantic” lyrics, quickly found an audience on platforms like SoundCloud and TikTok.
D4vd’s Budding Music Career
The July 2022 single, "Romantic Homicide," a track about a relationship gone sour, became his breakout hit. The song went viral largely for one part of its hook. "In the back of my mind, you died / And I didn’t even cry" were words that resonated with young listeners who’d gone through similar heartbreaking experiences. That led to its widespread use in melodramatic TikTok edits and an eventual peak at #33 on the Billboard Hot 100. His music’s quick virality led to him signing with Darkroom Records (via Interscope) in September 2022. That came just two months after the release of “Romantic Homicide” and barely over a year into his career.
D4vd’s status as a viral artist also led to him collaborating with several big names. In 2023, he and 21 Savage contributed “Call Me Revenge” to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. In 2024, he delivered “Remember Me,” which appeared on the soundtrack for Netflix’s acclaimed series Arcane. He performed the latter at the Game Awards in December of that year. Earlier this year, he released his debut album Withered, which received positive reviews and led to his first headlining tour. In July 2025, he linked up with popular Twitch streamer JasonTheWeen to create the song “Summer Uptown” while on Jason’s broadcast. In September, he released “Locked & Loaded,” a collaboration with Fortnite. D4vd’s career was unquestionably on the rise, but recent events may permanently alter that.
D4vd’s Tesla Gets Discovered
On September 8, news broke that the body of a deceased teenager was discovered in a Tesla. The Tesla, registered to D4vd, was parked in an impound lot after having been towed. The body, identified as Celeste Rivas on September 16, was decomposed and dismembered. Individual body parts were reportedly placed in different plastic bags. She was 5-foot-2 and 120 pounds at the time of her disappearance, per the missing poster TMZ uncovered. The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office weighed her body at 71 pounds upon discovery. The police department struggled to ID her for over a week because of the decomposition. "She appears to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period of time before being found,” said the medical examiner on September 10.
Who Was Celeste Rivas?
Celeste Rivas Hernandez was a young girl from Lake Elsinore, a California suburb about 70 miles from Los Angeles. She was born on September 7, 2010, meaning that her body was discovered a day after what would have been her 15th birthday. Rivas was reported missing in April 2024, when she was just 13. She made one last call home in May of that year. No one else physically saw her until the recent discovery of her body. On September 17, after authorities publicly identified the body, Rivas’ mother told TMZ that her daughter dated someone named David at the time of her disappearance. D4vd’s birth name is David, and he is also five years older than Rivas.
Celeste Rivas & D4vd Relationship Details
The same day, a series of photos and messages alleged to have been between Rivas and D4vd surfaced on X. The screenshots include messages allegedly sent by Rivas in D4vd’s fan-driven Discord server from as far back as 2022. If legitimate, that means D4vd may have known the young girl since she was 11 or 12. He would have been 17 at the time. A tweet of his from May 2022 also resurfaced in reply to two now-deleted posts that fans now believe may have been from Rivas. “When I was writing this I got a noti from you, as you were talking about wanting to be with your mom and your sister again,” the post read in part.
There were also several photos of D4vd posing with a girl alleged to be Rivas. The ones that originally circulated featured her face covered or cropped. On September 18, TMZ discovered a clearer photo of the pair from October 2023. They also discovered a Twitch stream clip featuring the two of them from January 2024, just a few months before she disappeared. Moreover, the two reportedly had matching index finger tattoos, which read “Shhh…” The tattoo is visible in photos taken of the singer within the last year. After that, a song titled “Celeste” resurfaced on social media as well. The track originally leaked in December 2023, and of course, shares a name with the girl who went missing.
What’s Next For The Investigation?
TMZ reported that the LAPD searched a home in the Hollywood Hills on September 17, near the Tesla's original abandonment site. They left the home with a seized computer and several more bags of evidence. Investigators are also looking for videos from the area. They’ve received footage from two homeowners in the area. However, it is currently unknown if the footage actually shows who was behind the wheel. A photo of D4vd about six minutes away from Rivas’ home surfaced as well, where he allegedly interacts with someone holding a bag. It is not clear when the photo was taken, what is in the bag, or who the people the singer appears to be speaking to are.
Per a spokesperson for D4vd, he has reportedly been “fully cooperating” with police since the horrific discovery on September 8. He has not commented on the investigation himself. He continued to perform after the original report, even handing out Labubus to the Minneapolis audience a night after the discovery was made. However, he canceled his most recent show in Seattle, allegedly flying back to Los Angeles on the evening of September 17. The following day, he canceled the rest of his tour.
The Response So Far
Kali Uchis, who collaborated with D4vd on the song “Crashing,” confirmed on September 17 that she will be removing it from streaming services. “Not my friend, I did a song with him which is currently in the process of being taken down given today’s disturbing news,” Uchis wrote in response to someone calling her out. Hollister pulled their campaign involving him on September 10. JasonTheWeen originally defended D4vd, saying that he couldn’t have killed anyone since he was on tour. “My theory is someone killed someone and stole David’s car and left it in the trunk,” he said on September 11. Following the newest details, Jason unfollowed the singer.
On September 18, Darkroom paused all promo regarding D4vd out of respect for the seriousness and severity of the investigation. They also held back his deluxe album, originally set for release the following day. The same day, RealestK, a singer set to be on the deluxe album and who recently performed with D4vd in Toronto in late August, took to Instagram Stories to distance himself from the project. “I had no knowledge of this situation prior to the feature and performance that took place. I do not condone or support this in any way,” read part of the statement.
As of this writing, nothing is confirmed, nor have LAPD arrested anyone. Police are currently treating it as a death investigation. Obviously, things will change if Rivas' death is deemed a homicide. Because of the state of the body upon recovery, the LAPD has struggled to draw conclusions at this point in their investigation. HNHH will continue to keep you up to date with this rapidly evolving case as more information becomes available.
