Prosecutors described in a new court document how D4vd, who has been charged with the murder and sexual abuse of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, allegedly fatally stabbed her to prevent the teen from speaking out about the abuse.
The singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, killed Celeste to protect his music career, prosecutors said in a brief. He met Celeste when she was 11 and began a “sexual relationship” with her when she was 13 and he was 18, according to the document.
“Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened, very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out,” the document alleges.
Burke’s legal team has said that he is innocent and did not kill the teen. His attorneys had asked the judge overseeing the case to block the release of the prosecution’s brief, which was denied.
Prosecutors say investigators obtained messages between the two from April 2025 showing the teen was jealous of Burke’s relationships with women, “as defendant led her to believe they had a future together”, and that she had threatened to disclose “damaging information” about their relationship and end his career.
Authorities believe Burke killed her the following day and purchased two chainsaws that he used to dismember her body in an inflatable pool. According to the court document, her DNA was found in Burke’s garage.
Celeste’s decomposed remains were found in September 2025 in the trunk of a Tesla that was registered to the musician and had been abandoned in the Hollywood Hills. Burke was the last one to drive the vehicle, according to prosecutors.
The Los Angeles county medical examiner determined Celeste died from penetrating injuries and had significant wounds to her torso. The condition of her remains delayed the medical examiner’s ability to determine her cause of death, police said. Two of her fingers were missing, and prosecutors say Celeste had Burke’s name tattooed on them.
Burke was also in possession of child sex abuse images of Celeste, according to the prosecution.
Celeste’s remains were found a day after she would have turned 15. Her family had reported her missing from her home town of Lake Elsinore, about 70 miles (110km) from Los Angeles, in 2024. The seventh-grader had run away in February, and later returned home before leaving again, police said.
According to the prosecution, after Celeste was first reported missing, police contacted Burke, who told them he was not aware she was a minor and met her only once. Her parents reportedly took her phone away after she returned home the first time, but Burke allegedly paid a friend of the teen $1,000 to give her a cellphone to allow them to stay in contact.
She ran away again, according to the document, and spent extensive time at Burke’s home in the Hollywood Hills and traveled with him to Las Vegas, London and Texas, where she met his family.
A hearing in the case scheduled for Friday has been delayed until late May to allow the defense time to review the evidence.
The Associated Press contributed