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D4vd named as target of grand jury investigation into teen’s death after being found in Tesla
Music•February 26, 2026 at 11:51 AMNational

D4vd named as target of grand jury investigation into teen’s death after being found in Tesla

By Liberty Dunworth•NME Music News

The singer’s parents were also reportedly ordered to appear before a Los Angeles grand jury The post D4vd named as target of grand jury investigation into teen’s death after being found in Tesla appeared first on NME.

D4vd has been named as the target of a grand jury investigation into the death of a teenage girl, who was found dead in a Tesla.

The body of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found severely decomposed in the front boot of a vehicle registered to the singer (real name David Anthony Burke) back in September.

She was first reported missing when she was 13-years-old in April 2024, and the Tesla was found after it had been moved to an impound lot in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department later announced that the case was being treated as an “investigation into murder”.

Now, a new filing states that a grand jury investigation is pending, and report that the singer is being treated as the target of the investigation.

The investigation is pending in Los Angeles County, and alleges that Burke “may be involved in the death” (as per NBC). It also states that Hernandez “may have been the victim of foul play.”

NBC News also shares that the LAPD source said that the singer was a suspect in the 14-year-old’s death, but has not been arrested or charged with any crime.

His parents, who are based in Texas, were reportedly ordered to appear before a Los Angeles grand jury on February 11, and his father Dawud Burke was allegedly asked to appear as a witness in the investigation.

Up until November, investigators repeatedly declined to say whether or not they were treating it as a homicide, and shared that they were awaiting a conclusion from the medical examiner. Around that same time, the victim’s exact cause of death was listed as “deferred”, and a statement from police suggested that she may have died in the spring.

It was confirmed at the end of 2025 that D4vd is being considered as a suspect and, while he was initially “cooperating” with the authorities, he was then being less cooperative, according to various reports.

NME has reached out to D4vd’s management team for comment multiple times, but has yet to hear back. Neither D4vd nor his team have publicly spoken about the latest developments.

In the wake of the investigation, the ‘Romantic Homicide’ singer cancelled his US tour and shelved plans to release a deluxe edition of his debut album ‘Withered’. His headline tour dates in Europe and the UK have since been cancelled too.

His manager, Josh Marshall, spoke out for the first time about the investigation and denied accusations made by someone on TikTok that he was involved in the case.

Before it was confirmed that he was being considered a suspect, it was revealed that the singer had been given a parking ticket in the Hollywood Hills just under two weeks before the body was found, and residents in the area alleged that the Tesla under his name had been left in their neighbourhood for over a month.

Then, it emerged that investigators were exploring the possibility that Celeste Rivas’ body was “frozen” before being moved to the Tesla registered to D4vd.

The post D4vd named as target of grand jury investigation into teen’s death after being found in Tesla appeared first on NME.

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