d4vd attends 2024 Power of Young Hollywood at Santa Monica Proper Hotel on August 08, 2024 in Santa Monica, California with Amazon MGM Studios and CashApp. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images)

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David Anthony Burke — the singer-songwriter who performs as D4vd — was arrested Thursday, April 16, 2026, in connection with the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the teenage girl whose severely decomposed remains were discovered last September inside the trunk of a Tesla registered in the singer’s name.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed the arrest and said the 21-year-old is being held without bail. The case is expected to be presented to prosecutors on Monday and further details shared then.

The arrest marks a dramatic turn in a case that has gripped the public — and music listeners — since last fall, when investigators first disclosed that human remains had been found in an impounded vehicle traced back to the rising social media and music star.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office identified the remains as those of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who was just 13 in April 2024 when she was reported missing from her home in Lake Elsinore, California, roughly 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Her family previously reported her missing multiple times in the past.

Her body was found on September 8, 2025 — one day after what would have been her 15th birthday. The medical examiner noted her body was “severely decomposed” and appeared to have been in the vehicle for an extended period before it was discovered. As Forbes’ Conor Murray noted in a report last year, the LA County Medical Examiner had listed Hernandez’s cause of death as “deferred,” something that would be critical for making an arrest and charges once uncovered.

Police obtained a court order blocking LA’s County Medical Examiner office from publicly releasing information about the case.

Despite the grisliness and uncertainty surrounding the case, D4vd’s music has seen newfound surges in streaming.

Late last year, D4vd’s 2022 single “Romantic Homicide” hit the Top 10 of Spotify’s U.S. daily songs chart after being absent from the rankings until the bevy of controversial headlines. Other songs like 2022’s “Here With Me” and 2024’s “Feel It” also made major gains, helping D4vd hit a new career high on Spotify’s artists chart.

As previously reported, “Romantic Homicide” also made its way up several Billboard charts in the wake of the news including on the Hot Alternative Songs, Hot Rock Songs, and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts. Today, the song has been certified three times platinum by the RIAA for shifting three million equivalent units throughout the United States, bringing him to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at No. 33.

Notably, D4vd’s previous releases were released under Universal Music Group’s Interscope Records and Darkroom Records, but he is no longer listed on either label’s website roster. D4vd released his full-length project, WITHERED, in April 2025 via Darkroom/Interscope with several additional singles released in the months since including an official Fortnite anthem.

When the story initially broke this past September, D4vd had just begun a North American tour. While he initially moved forward with the trek, D4vd canceled the remaining concerts, went quiet on social media, and scrapped a planned album. D4vd has not publicly commented on the investigation.