U.S. singer D4vd pleads not guilty to murder of 14-year-old

< warm>WARNING: This story contains inside information of clapperclaw and descriptions of human remains. It may impress those who feature experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it. 

U.S. Singer D4vd pleaded not guilty Monday to a murder charge in the death of a 14-year-old girl who was last known to be alive nearly a year ago and whose dismembered and decomposed body was found in September in his apparently abandoned Tesla.

The charges revealed key details and were among the first concrete public moves made in a grisly and horrific case that had been under a largely secret investigation in the seven months since the body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said the 21-year-old D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged with first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a body. His attorney entered not guilty pleas on his behalf to all counts.

The girls' parents were in court for Burke's first appearance in the case Monday. His lawyers said the evidence would show he was innocent.

Authorities alleged the Houston-born alt-pop singer killed Rivas Hernandez to protect a career on the rise after she threatened to report their sexual relationship. His debut album, Withered, was released just two days after they said she was last known to be alive.

She was reported missing by her family in 2024, when she was 13. That was her age when, according to allegation in a criminal complaint, the singer engaged in continuous sexual abuse of her for at least a year from September 2023 to September 2024. California law penalizes abuse of a child under 14 especially harshly.

Prosecutors allege Burke mutilated her body about two weeks later.

The murder charges included special circumstances — lying in wait, committing crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an investigation — that could carry the death penalty. Prosecutors haven't announced whether they will seek it.

The witness he is alleged to have killed is Rivas Hernandez herself, who could have given testimony about the sex crime allegations.

Attorneys for Burke said he would be exonerated, in a statement released after the charges were announced.

"The actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death," they said. "We will vigorously defend David's innocence."

Burke was arrested at a home in Hollywood on Thursday.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman called the case "a parent's nightmare."

"Celeste, a 14-year-old at that time, went to Mr. Burke's house in the Hollywood Hills. She was never heard from again," Hochman said at Monday's news conference.

The long-dead body of Rivas Hernandez was found inside a Tesla that was towed from the Hollywood Hills on Sept. 8, when Burke was on tour in support of his album. It was a day after she would have turned 15. Her family had reported her missing from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, about 112 kilometres southeast of Los Angeles.

The singer had been under investigation by an LA County grand jury looking into the death. The probe was officially secret, but its existence — and his designation as its target — was revealed in February when his mother, father and brother objected in a Texas court to subpoenas demanding they testify.

The 2023 Tesla Model Y was registered in the singer's name at their address, according to court filings. Authorities did not publicly acknowledge him as a suspect until his arrest.

Police investigators searching the Tesla in a tow yard found a cadaver bag "covered with insects and a strong odor of decay," court documents said. Detectives partially unzipped a bag and found a head and torso.

Investigators from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office removed the bag and "discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body," according to court documents. A second black bag was found under the first, and dismembered body parts were inside it.

No cause of death has been publicly revealed, and police got a judge to block the release details of the autopsy. The court order was expected to be lifted after the charges.

The family of Rivas Hernandez has remained private and has not made any public statements on her death or the case.

"I had the chance to meet with some of the family members of Celeste and their grief in incalculable as to what happened to their daughter," Hochman said.

D4vd, pronounced "David," gained popularity among Gen Z for his blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit Romantic Homicide, which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's hot rock & alternative songs chart. He then signed with Darkroom and Interscope Records and released his debut EP Petals to Thorns and a follow-up, The Lost Petals, in 2023.

The Associated Press confirmed that D4vd was dropped by Interscope last year.

After the body was discovered, the singer continued his North American tour, but when reports of his possible involvement spread widely, he cancelled the final two shows and the European tour that was to follow.

On April 11, about two weeks before the killing, he made his debut appearance at the Coachella music festival, where he talked to The Associated Press.

"I was such an internet kid. The internet is really what I claim as my home," he said. "My neighbourhood was Instagram and the society was the internet."

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