The teenage girl whose dismembered body was found in the trunk of D4vd’s Tesla in Los Angeles last year died from “multiple penetrating injuries caused by objects,” according to records released Wednesday.
Subscribe to read this story ad-free
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.
The Los Angeles County Department of the Medical Examiner determined the manner of death for Celeste Rivas Hernandez, 14, to be homicide.
The singer, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, was charged Monday with first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse and mutilation of human remains in the teen’s disappearance and death.
Burke, 21, pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. His attorneys have said they will “vigorously defend his innocence.”
The medical examiner’s office had previously been barred from releasing details about Celeste’s death after the Los Angeles Police Department obtained a security hold on the case.
In a statement Wednesday, Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odey Ukpo said it was “unfathomable” that Celeste’s family had to wait so long to learn what happened to her.
“I am grateful this information can now be released,” he said.
In a death investigation summary released Wednesday, the department said the teen’s autopsy was limited by “extensive postmortem changes.”
Her dismembered, decomposed remains were found in the trunk of Burke’s abandoned Tesla at a Hollywood tow lot on Sept. 8, 2025, one day after the girl would have turned 15 and more than a year after she was reported missing.
The autopsy found two penetrating wounds to her torso that may represent “sharp force injuries.” She had other wounds that penetrated her liver and chest, according to the summary.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has sought three sentencing enhancements in the case — lying in wait, financial gain and murdering a witness to an investigation.
The county’s top prosecutor, Nathan Hochman, accused the “Romantic Homicide” singer of killing Celeste to maintain his lucrative music career, which he said she threatened on April 23, 2025.
She arrived at Burke’s Hollywood Hills home that night, Hochman said, “and was not heard from again.”
Hochman described the teen as a witness to an investigation into the singer’s allegedly “lewd and lascivious sexual acts” with her when she was under the age of 14.
The teen was reported missing from Lake Elsinore, southeast of Los Angeles, in April 2024. Her parents described her in a statement Tuesday as a “beautiful, strong girl” who loved to sing, dance and spend Fridays watching movies with her family.
“We miss her deeply,” they said. “All we want is justice for Celeste.”
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said the lengthy period of time between her death and the discovery of her remains meant crucial evidence in the case was degraded or missing.
“As detectives worked to uncover the truth, they also had to sift through and debunk a great deal of false information circulating publicly,” he said.
