Overview
- After Monday’s arraignment in Los Angeles, David Anthony Burke, known as D4vd, pleaded not guilty to first‑degree murder, child sex abuse, and mutilation as prosecutors filed three special‑circumstance allegations.
- He is being held without bail at the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail, where officials placed him in segregation due to the profile of the case.
- Prosecutors allege he killed Celeste Rivas Hernandez to keep her from reporting a sexual relationship and to protect his career, citing physical, forensic and digital records and a charge that he used a sharp instrument.
- Investigators say Celeste was last seen at Burke’s Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, and her dismembered remains were found in September 2025 in two bags inside the front trunk of a Tesla registered to him.
- The charges carry possible life without parole or the death penalty, the DA has not decided whether to seek death, the defense is pushing for a fast evidentiary hearing, and Celeste’s family issued a first public statement thanking authorities and calling for justice.