Body bag and chainsaws: How US singer D4vd hacked, dismembered a teen girl’s body

Please note that the report contains graphical details of the murder, which could be distressing to some. Reader discretion is advised.

New disturbing details have emerged in the Celeste Rivas Hernandez's alleged murder case. The details point to how D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, killed and eventually dismembered Hernandez, before her body was found in his Tesla.

The 21-year-old Houston-born alt-pop singer has reportedly not pleaded guilty to all charges. Burke's preliminary hearing is set to start Friday (May 1). After a months-long investigation, D4vd was arrested on April 16 on suspicion of murdering Hernandez.

Hernandez's parents' attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, issued a statement on the alleged crime, saying, "The family is absolutely devastated by the findings contained in the Medical Examiner’s Report involving the horrible and gruesome death of their beloved daughter," New York Post (NYP) quoted him as saying.

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A look at a blow-by-blow account of the chilling murder of a 14-year-old Hernandez.

From limbs cut to chainsaws: The horrifying details

Prosecutors say D4vd mutilated Hernandez with chainsaws.

On the night of April 23, 2025, the singer first booked an Uber to bring Hernandez from her home to his place in the Hollywood Hills.

D4vd then stabbed her to death, and watched her bleeding severely, the prosecutors say. The next day, he allegedly ordered a shovel from Home Depot and had it delivered to his home via Postmates, the publication reported, citing legal documents.

US singer D4vd was arrested on April 16 on suspicion of murdering a teenage girl who went missing last year, police say. Image courtesy: X

A week later, he ordered something again: two chainsaws from Amazon, which were also delivered to his home.

On May 5, D4vd, according to court documents, ordered a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, an inflatable blue pool, and a shovel.

The BBC reported, citing filings, that he also allegedly purchased a "burn cage," with plans to incinerate evidence. All these purchases were reportedly made using the alias Victoria Mendez.

Officials, who probed the matter, said that from here Burk carried out gruesome measures to destroy and discard the victim’s body.

Burk placed Hernandez's body into the blue inflatable pool to prevent her constant bleeding, so the blood stains don't make a mess on his garage floor. The legal documents noted that he then used a chainsaw, and possibly other tools, to dismember her limbs.

D4vd then stabbed Hernandez to death, and watched her bleeding severely, the prosecutors say. Image courtesy: X

Investigators reportedly discovered plastic fragments embedded in Hernandez’s remains that matched the material from a pool Burke had purchased on Amazon.

According to the documents, the singer also amputated Hernandez’s left ring and pinky fingers because her ring finger bore a tattoo of his name, but those fingers were never found, NYP reported.

Multiple biological samples that tested positive for blood were collected from the garage area, and the DNA matched Hernandez, according to documents and investigators.

A fight before the alleged murder

D4vd and 14-year-old Hernandez got into a heated and lengthy argument over a text message. This happened on 22 April, the night before the alleged murder. The fight stemmed from Hernandez's jealousy of the singer's relationships with other women.

“She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damning information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life,” investigators noted, as quoted by the news outlet.

Prosecutors believe that when D4vd booked an Uber for Hernandez that day, he also messaged her multiple times, asking where she was. But, prosecutors point to these messages as part of his plan "to cover up the murder," BBC reported, citing court filings.

Burke and Hernandez met when she was 11, in January 2022. Both then started a sexual relationship in November 2023 when she was 13 and Burke was 18, NYP reported, citing officials.

Rivas goes missing in 2024; gets killed in 2025

Long before her alleged murder, she reportedly went missing at least three times. Hernandez ran away from her home for the first time on Valentine’s Day 2024, but came back a few days later.

On March 19, 2024, she went missing for the second time. On April 5, 2024, she went missing for a final time, and since then, she never came back. Hernandez was 13 years old and in seventh grade.

Burke and Hernandez met when she was 11, in January 2022. Both then started a sexual relationship in November 2023. Image courtesy: X

Detectives discovered Burke’s phone number in her phone, according to the documents. When asked by detectives, the singer said that he was not aware that Hernandez was a minor or that she had been reported missing.

After locating her, her family took her phone away. D4vd allegedly continued to pursue her, despite knowing that she was a minor, documents mentioned.

Burke paid a student $1,000 (around Rs 94,900) in her class to provide Hernandez a phone that the singer had purchased for her so they could continue to communicate. Those text messages obtained by detectives indicated that the pair continued to involve in a sexual relationship.

D4vd’s arrest after months-long probe

After months of investigation, the cause of her death was determined. The case then reached a conclusion on December 8 2025.

On September 5, police received a complaint that a Tesla appeared to have been abandoned. The vehicle was registered to Burke.

On September 17, detectives from the LAPD’s robbery-homicide division executed a search warrant at a Hollywood Hills residence in connection with the death investigation.

The property owner, Malden Trifunovic, said that the house had been rented by Burke’s manager. And on April 16, the singer was finally arrested.

He was charged with first-degree murder under special circumstances, along with charges of engaging in lewd and lascivious sexual acts with a child under 14 and mutilating human remains, reports suggest.

With inputs from agencies