D4vd Charged With Murder, Sexual Abuse After Teen's Body Found in His Car

On September 25, 2025, employees at a Hollywood tow yard called police about a foul smell and flies gathering around a stored Tesla. Inside the vehicle’s trunk, investigators found a cadaver bag containing a decomposed head and torso. A second bag held additional dismembered remains.

The victim was identified as a 14-year-old girl who had run away from her home in Riverside County and been reported missing more than a year earlier. Her body was found one day after what would have been her 15th birthday.

On April 20, 2026, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced that the Tesla’s registered owner - David Anthony Burke, 21, who records music under the name D4vd - had been charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and mutilation of human remains. Burke had been arrested four days earlier following a grand jury investigation.

A Girl Who Trusted the Wrong Person

According to Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell, the victim was last known to be alive on April 23, 2025, when she arrived at Burke’s home in the Hollywood Hills. Detectives determined she had been involved in a sexual relationship with Burke, who was 20 at the time. She was 14.

She had run away from her home in Riverside County. Her family had been searching for her. The months between her disappearance and the discovery of her remains involved degraded evidence and, according to McDonnell, a significant amount of false information circulating publicly that investigators had to sift through and rule out.

“The substantial amount of time that passed between her death and the discovery meant that crucial evidence had degraded or disappeared,” McDonnell said. Investigators continued building the case for months before the grand jury was convened.

The Charges and the Alleged Motive

Prosecutors allege that Burke killed the victim to protect his music career. According to the district attorney’s office, the murder charge carries three special circumstance enhancements: killing to silence a witness, lying in wait, and financial gain.

“I am a parent of three children, and a parent’s nightmare is a situation where your daughter goes out one night and never comes back,” Hochman said at a Monday press conference.

Burke has pleaded not guilty. His attorneys - Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter - issued a statement saying the actual evidence would show their client did not commit the murder. Burke remains jailed without bail and was due back in court Thursday.

A Career, and a Family Left Waiting

D4vd built a following in the alternative R&B and indie pop space, accumulating a fan base that had no connection to the investigation until his arrest made national news April 17. He had been 19 years old when the victim first went missing.

For her family, the charges offer only a first step. Her remains had been found. Her name had been confirmed. A suspect was now formally accused.

“To the family, we cannot undo the pain that you are feeling,” Chief McDonnell said Monday. “Our hope is that today brings some measure of accountability and a step in the journey toward healing.”

A Case Still Unfolding

Burke’s arraignment is set to proceed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Prosecutors have indicated the case will be tried on the full weight of the charges filed, including the special circumstances that make Burke eligible for a sentence of life without parole or, potentially, the death penalty.

The family has not spoken publicly since the charges were announced. But those who have been paying attention since September 2025 - when workers at a tow yard first noticed something wrong - have been waiting for this moment for a long time.

References: Singer D4vd charged with murder in death of teen girl found in trunk of car | D4vd charged with first-degree murder in death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez