US singer d4vd arrested over teen girl found dead in his abandoned car

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - LOS ANGELES — US singer d4vd has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a teenage girl who went missing last year, police say.

US singer d4vd has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a teenage girl whose decomposed body was found seven months ago in his apparently abandoned Tesla, authorities said Thursday.

Los Angeles police said in a brief statement that homicide detectives arrested the Houston-born alt-pop singer whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, on suspicion of murder in the investigation of the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who went missing last year.

They said the 21-year-old singer was being held without bail and the case will be presented to the District Attorney's office on Monday.

The singer has been virtually silent on the case but his representatives previously said he was cooperating with authorities.

Questions had been mounting since the discovery of the girl's remains in a Hollywood tow yard after authorities received reports of a foul odor coming from the vehicle.

On September 8, 2025, investigators found her decomposed head and torso in a cadaver bag in the front boot of a Tesla car registered to d4vd's address in Texas, court documents said.

The county's medical examiner said the body was "severely decomposed" and deferred on making a ruling on how she died pending the death investigation. The girl might have been dead "for several weeks" before the discovery of her body, officials said.

No cause of death in the teen's case has been announced, with authorities only saying for months that they were treating the case as a death investigation.

A judge ordered that the teen's death records be sealed in November to ensure officers received information from the medical examiner before the public.

Rivas Hernandez, who lived about 75 miles (120km) away from where her body was discovered, had last been reported missing by her family in April 2024, but it was not the first time she had run away from their Lake Elsinore home.

A first-generation daughter of immigrant parents from El Salvador, neighbours recognized her as a girl who would visit the corner store almost daily to buy candy and soda, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The lack of information in the macabre death has fuelled intrigue and ignited an online following, with many hypothesising about the girl's connection to the Romantic Homicide singer.

A grand jury began hearing evidence in the case in December, but d4vd's arrest on Thursday marks the first significant development in the case in months.

More details about the case emerged in court filings after the singer's family was summoned from Texas by a California court to testify before the grand jury.

When Dawud Burke, d4vd's father, fought against the summons in a Texas court he included material from the California case that had not been previously available to the public.

The filings confirmed that d4vd had been identified as a "target" of a grand jury investigation in Los Angeles and that he may be subject to proceedings for one count of murder.

Few details shared with the public before included that Rivas Hernandez was wearing a tube top, size small black leggings and jewellery, including a yellow metal stud earring and a yellow metal chain bracelet, when her body was found.

Shortly after the body was found, the Here With Me singer canceled his world tour, signaling the beginning of the end of his pop career and his noticeable retreat from the spotlight.

Los Angeles police previously said they had raided the Hollywood Hills mansion where he was living, just blocks from where his Tesla had been towed. He was also dropped from marketing campaigns with US retailer Hollister and footwear giant Crocs.

Telepatía singer Kali Uchis also announced she was taking down their collaboration, Crashing.