The family of a teenage girl who was allegedly murdered and dismembered by rising musician D4VD said they are shocked and horrified by the details revealed in court this week, according to a statement released by the family lawyer.
In a court brief filed Wednesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Beth Silverman alleged that David Anthony Burke, who stars as D4vd, concealed his long-term sexual abuse of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, lured her to his Hollywood rental mansion, stabbed her and drained her blood, and then used “a chainsaw and probably other tools” to cut up her body and remove two of her fingers to destroy the tattoos linking her to him.
Burke, 21, is charged with murder, continuous sexual assault 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 purchased a shovel, two chainsaws, 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.
Patrick Steinfeld, an attorney representing the family, said, “There are no words to express the indescribable pain the family is experiencing right now.” “They still have bills to pay and jobs they go to every day. They just want time to grieve and heal.”
He said informing the family about the gruesome details was the hardest thing he had to do in his 37-year law career.
“I originally encouraged the Rivas Hernandez family to speak publicly throughout the criminal process. They agreed with the full support of Los Angeles County District Atty. Nathan Hochman. However, in light of the horrific details emerging almost daily, the family has decided not to make any statements now or in the future.”
Prosecutors’ nine-page brief details an abusive relationship between the singer and the girl, which allegedly began when she was just 11 and ended with her murder in April 2025. In the days following Hernandez’s death, Burke used an inflatable pool to contain Hernandez’s body while the singer dismembered her remains in the garage, according to a brief prosecutors prepared for Burke’s preliminary hearing, in which they will make their case to the judge that there is sufficient evidence to prove that Hernandez died. Burke will be prosecuted. Pieces of plastic from the pool were found among 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 had a “lengthy argument” the night before, in which Hernandez expressed jealousy over Burke’s relationships with other women and “threatened to reveal damaging information about her relationship with defendant and end her career and destroy her life,” Silverman wrote.
The night police believe Hernandez was murdered, according to the court filing, the singer ordered an Uber to drive her from her Lake Elsinore home to Hollywood around 8:40 p.m.
An autopsy report made public last week showed that Hernandez died from two stab wounds. Prosecutors allege that Burke cut off two of Hernandez’s fingers to remove evidence of a tattoo Hernandez had of the singer’s name.
Hernandez was reported missing by her family several times in Lake Elsinore in 2024. Riverside County Sheriff’s investigators questioned Burke about her whereabouts in February 2024, but Burke claimed he was “unaware that she was a minor or that she had been reported missing,” Silverman wrote.
Two days later, she returned home and her parents took away her cellphone. But according to documents filed Wednesday, Burke allegedly drove to Lake Elsinore and paid a junior high school student $1,000 to give her a new phone so they could keep in touch. The following year, Hernandez traveled with the singer to Las Vegas, Texas and London, where she met “her family,” Silverman wrote.
Burke’s lead defense attorney, Blair Burke, did not respond to the new filing or return a request for comment. He has insisted that his client did not kill the teenager. A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for May 26.
