Family of Celeste Rivas Demands Death Penalty for Singer D4VD Ahead of Her 16th Birthday
The family of slain 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez has issued an impassioned public plea demanding capital punishment for singer D4VD, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, on the eve of what would have marked her sixteenth birthday.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is actively determining whether to seek the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole against the music artist in connection with the brutal murder that shook Hollywood last year.
In an emotional statement released to the press, Celeste’s grief-stricken parents declared that capital punishment would represent the only true justice for a defendant “devoid of feelings and emptiness inside, and without conscience,” acknowledging that while sentencing remains in the hands of the California judicial system, their daughter was violently robbed of ever reaching her fifteenth birthday.
The family’s declaration arrives precisely one year after Celeste’s decomposed remains were discovered locked inside the trunk of D4VD’s Tesla vehicle at a commercial tow yard in Hollywood.
Prosecutors allege that Burke stabbed the underage teenager to death on April 23, 2025, after she threatened to expose their sexual relationship and dismantle his lucrative recording career due to her minor status.
Medical examiners testified during preliminary proceedings that Celeste suffered two catastrophic penetrating wounds to her torso, including a chest puncture that induced fatal pneumothorax and a deep liver laceration that triggered massive internal hemorrhaging.
Chilling Forensic Evidence and Fierce Pre-Trial Clashes
Testimony delivered during the five-day preliminary hearing painted an excruciating picture of premeditated cover-up maneuvers:
-
Premeditated Dismemberment Tools: Prosecutors presented evidence demonstrating that Burke utilized an alias to purchase an excavation shovel, heavy-duty laundry bags, a specialized body bag, two commercial chainsaws from Amazon, and a blue inflatable swimming pool. Investigators testified that Burke used the chainsaw to dismember the victim’s body inside the pool—with microscopic plastic fragments matching the pool found lodged in her remains—while blood evidence matching Celeste’s DNA profile was recovered directly from his residential garage.
-
Heavy Felony Charges and Asset Scrutiny: Burke faces charges of first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains, compounded by special circumstance allegations of murder of a witness, murder for financial gain, and murder by lying in wait. Following a judge’s order on July 27, 2026, mandating that he stand trial after pleading not guilty, Burke dismissed his elite defense attorneys in favor of a public defender; however, the victim’s family attorney is aggressively challenging his eligibility for state-funded legal representation, alleging that the wealthy artist is actively shielding his music royalties through corporate shell entities and illicit asset transfers to his mother.