Overview
- LAPD detectives arrested David Burke, 21, in the Hollywood Hills on Thursday and booked him without bail in the killing of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
- Police said the case will go to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Major Crimes Division on Monday for a filing decision, and no indictment or criminal complaint is public.
- Rivas Hernandez, 14, was found on Sept. 8, 2025, in two cadaver bags in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke, with her head, torso, and other dismembered parts recovered.
- Court records made public after a Texas challenge show Burke was named a target of a Los Angeles County grand jury and that subpoenas were issued for testimony from his parents and brother.
- Burke is expected in court Monday as prosecutors weigh charges, with investigators still working through cause-of-death questions and indications that others may have helped dispose of the body.