Family of teen victim urges death penalty for singer D4vd in murder trial
The parents of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez have called for the death penalty for singer David Anthony Burke, who faces murder and related charges after her dismembered body was found in his car.
The family of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez has asked that singer David Anthony Burke, known as D4vd, be sentenced to death if convicted of her killing. Burke, 21, was ordered in July to stand trial after investigators discovered the victim’s dismembered body in the front trunk of his Tesla on 8 September 2025. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that include first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and mutilating a body.
Prosecutors allege Burke stabbed the girl several times and then severed her limbs to prevent her from revealing a sexual relationship that began when he was 18 and she was 13, an age below the legal consent threshold. The victim was last seen on 23 April 2025, and her body was recovered from a tow yard after the car was towed from a street near Burke’s residence.
"If the death penalty were activated, it would be perfect for this kind of human being," the family statement read, expressing their demand for capital punishment.
The prosecution presented evidence that the pair had met when the girl was 11, and that they exchanged messages about a pregnancy and an abortion a year before her death. Photographs submitted at a July preliminary hearing showed the two kissing and lying in bed, and a tattoo of the name “David” on the victim’s finger, one of the fingers later found severed.
Burke’s defense team argued that there is no direct evidence of intent to kill and that no witnesses or surveillance footage captured the victim entering his home at the alleged time of the crime. The defense has faced setbacks, with three high-profile attorneys withdrawing from the case in late August without explanation.