D4vd Allegedly Bought a Pool, Two Chain Saws, and a Cadaver Bag Online Under a Fake Name to Dispose of His 14-Year-Old Girlfriend’s Body

Prosecutors say the online shopping cart came together days after 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was stabbed to death in her Hollywood Hills home. His body and head were later found zipped into a cadaver bag in the trunk of his Tesla.

Celeste Rivas Hernandez was 14 years old when she disappeared in April 2025. Five months later, her badly decomposed body was found in the trunk of a car that was left registered to singer David Burke, a 21-year-old known to millions of TikTok fans as D4vd.

Burke has pleaded not guilty to murder, mutilation and child sexual abuse. He appeared in a Los Angeles court on Tuesday for a trial that could last several days, during which the district attorney’s office must show a judge that it has enough evidence to prosecute the case.

In court briefs, prosecutors laid out what they called the “shocking steps” Burke took after the murder. They say he put the girl’s body in a green inflatable pool “to prevent blood from spilling into his garage,” then removed the body parts with a chainsaw “and possibly other tools.” A dam, two saws, a shovel and a cadaver bag were purchased online under a false name and delivered to his home, according to the document.

Prosecutors say Burke killed her to keep her quiet. His first studio album was due out that week and he was locked in some lucrative deals, and they suspected that the girl, jealous and threatening to reveal damaging details about their relationship, would undo it all. One particular case accuses him of murder for financial gain. Another says he killed him because he was a witness to a crime.

Investigators say Burke’s sexual relationship with the girl began when she was 11 years old, and she received texts about sex, pregnancy, abortion and Plan B, as well as pornographic images. The report says he hailed her for an Uber ride to her home one day after they had an argument over his threats to expose her, and she stabbed him to death when he arrived. An autopsy found he died of “multiple blunt force injuries.”

His body and head were found inside a cadaver bag mounted on the front of the Tesla, with a plastic garbage bag holding his organs underneath, according to police and medical examiners. Two fingers on his left hand, one with Burke’s name written on it, were severed and never recovered.

Burke was the last person to drive the car on July 29, 2025, prosecutors said, before he left it near his home and went on a concert tour. Weeks later it was pulled into a containment area, where workers smelled a foul smell and notified authorities on September 8.

“We believe that the real evidence will show that David Burke did not kill Celeste Rivas Hernandez, and he is not the cause of her death,” said defense attorney Blair Berk during the April 20 hearing.

Burke found fame at a young age in 2022 when the songs he recorded on his phone for his Fortnite gameplay videos went viral, and his song “Romantic Homicide” helped him sign with Interscope Records. He performed at Coachella last year, less than two weeks before prosecutors said he was responsible for the murder.

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