The death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez has been officially ruled as a ‘homicide’ by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, marking a significant development in the ongoing murder investigation involving D4vd.The development comes after the 21-year-old Houston-born alt-pop singer, whose legal name is David Burke, was arrested in Los Angeles on Thursday on suspicion of murder. TMZ reports that a high-ranking source within the Los Angeles Police Department cited that the Medical Examiner had initially faced difficulty determining the manner of death due to the advanced decomposition of the body at the time of its discovery in September 2025. While authorities were unable to determine if the death was accidental or a homicide a few months ago, they now believe they have reached a conclusion.Police on Friday took D4vd into custody in the killing of the 14-year-old Celeste. His arrest came more than seven months after the teen’s decomposing remains were found in the trunk of his abandoned Tesla truck. He is currently being held without bail at a Los Angeles detention facility.In a statement, Burke’s defence attorneys – Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter – emphasised that their client has not been formally charged. “Let us be clear — 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 according to AP.“There has been no indictment returned by any grand jury in this case and no criminal complaint filed. David has only been detained under suspicion. We will vigorously defend David’s innocence,” the statement added.Investigators are expected to present the case to prosecutors at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, whose Major Crimes Division will determine whether sufficient evidence exists to file formal charges.Rivas Hernandez’s body was discovered on September 8. According to court documents, investigators searching the abandoned car located a cadaver bag “covered with insects and a strong odor of decay.” Detectives partially unzipped the bag and observed a decomposed head and torso. Officials from the Medical Examiner’s Office later determined that the arms and legs had been severed. A second bag containing additional dismembered body parts was also recovered.The exact cause of death has not been publicly disclosed. Even though the investigation remains ongoing, TMZ reports that his label Interscope Records had pulled his page from their official website. D4vd’s page is no longer visible or listed amongst the rest of the bunch.
