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Singer D4vd, born David Anthony Burke, has been formally named as a “target” of a grand jury investigation into the alleged shooting death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, according to recently unsealed court documents. the ROLLING STONE are available.
Grand jury documents and new details
Submissions included as exhibits in a 151-page filing from attorneys for D4vd’s parents and brother say the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has identified the singer as a target of its grand jury investigation.
The documents, filed in Texas without the sealing protections used in California, required grand jury testimony beginning Feb. 11 from D4vd’s father, Dawud Burke, his mother, Colleen Burke, and his brother, Caleb Burke. In the documents, D4vd is described as someone who “may have been involved in committing” a crime listed as “a case of murder.”
The filings also revealed new details about the condition of Rivas’ remains when investigators opened the trunk of D4vd’s towed Tesla at a holding facility on September 8, 2025. “When the front storage compartment was opened, detectives observed a black body bag. Covered in insects, as well as a strong odor of decomposition,” the documents state. “Using black latex gloves, detectives partially unzipped the bag. They observed a decomposed head and torso.”
Condition of the remains and legal disputes
The documents go on to say that after investigators removed the first body bag from the trunk, “it was determined that arms and legs had been severed from the body.” In addition, “a second black bag was discovered under the body bag. When the second bag was opened, the severed body parts were discovered.”
The documents were originally filed under seal in California before becoming public as part of an appeal in Texas related to the family’s efforts to prevent compelled testimony. The musician’s relatives were described as people with a “close relationship” with D4vd. When family members tried to challenge the subpoenas on the grounds that they were too secret and too vague, a Texas prosecutor asked a judge at a Feb. 2 hearing in Waller County to respect the California submissions, according to a transcript obtained by ROLLING STONE.
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“I would say that if a car with a dismembered, decomposing body is registered to your home address, that’s something that you should expect to be questioned about by authorities. And that’s what this is about, Your Honor,” said Waller County Assistant District Attorney Bennett Dodson. “I therefore ask this court to declare that [die Familienzeugen] are necessary and essential. I ask you to ensure that this does not cause them undue hardship.”
Appeal process and status of investigation
The First District Court of Appeals in Texas rejected habeas corpus petitions from all three family members seeking to overturn a lower court decision requiring them to testify in California. One of D4vd’s family’s lawyers told Rolling Stone that the fight over the subpoenas is not yet over.
“While the appeals court denied our motion, we filed another motion that same day in a higher court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals,” attorney Kent A. Schaffer said in an email. “The court agreed with us and stayed the lower court’s order requiring the Burkes’ appearance in California. The matter remains pending in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.”
After authorities reported in September that a body had been found in the trunk of the musician’s Tesla, they said the body was in such an advanced state of decomposition that it took forensic scientists a full week to identify the victim as Celeste Rivas. The 14-year-old was reported missing by her family in February and April 2024.
The following November, Los Angeles Police Department investigator Joshua Byers labeled the case a “homicide investigation” and sought a court order preventing the release of Rivas’ autopsy results. Byers argued, according to the Los Angeles Times, that publicly disclosing details of Rivas’ death could jeopardize the murder investigation and should be protected. A judge granted the request and ordered the coroner’s findings sealed.
D4vd, a platinum-selling artist who gained international popularity on TikTok, broke through in 2022 with his singles “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me.” The deluxe edition of his debut album Withered has been put on hold and the remaining dates of his US tour have been canceled amid the ongoing investigation.
