Singer D4vd has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 14-year-old girl whose decomposed body was discovered last year in an abandoned Tesla registered to him, which had been towed from the Hollywood Hills, police said Thursday.
Los Angeles police said in a brief statement that the 21-year-old Houston-born alt-pop artist, whose legal name is David Burke, is being held without bail. On Monday, investigators plan to present the case to the District Attorney’s Office for potential charges.
A Los Angeles County grand jury had previously investigated the singer for the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
Although the proceedings were confidential, his involvement in the probe became public on February 25, when his family objected in a Texas court to subpoenas seeking their testimony.
Emails seeking comment from an attorney and a publicist who have previously worked with D4vd were not immediately returned. His representatives have not responded to multiple previous requests from The Associated Press for comment on the case.
The long-dead body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found in a Tesla on Sept. 8, a day after she would have turned 15. She was a 13-year-old seventh grader when her family reported her missing in 2024 from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles. Authorities give her age as 14 when she was killed in court documents.
The 2023 Tesla Model Y was registered in the singer’s name at the Texas address of his subpoenaed family members, according to court filings from prosecutors. It had been towed from an upscale neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills where it had been sitting, seemingly abandoned.
