New court documents show that D4vd is the official target of an active grand jury that is probing the death of a teenage girl whose body was discovered in the singer’s car this past fall.
Rumors have swirled for months that a Los Angeles grand jury is hearing evidence about the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas, whose remains were found in an impounded Tesla registered to D4vd in September. In such proceedings, prosecutors present evidence to laypeople who decide whether or not charges are warranted.
Grand jury proceedings are secret, and until recently there were no public documents confirming whether the “Romantic Homicide” singer (real name David Burke) was a target of the investigation. That has now changed with the revelation of documents filed by D4vd’s family members seeking to avoid traveling from their home in Texas to California to testify for the grand jury.
Petitions filed this month by D4vd’s parents, Colleen and Dawud Burke, and his younger brother, Caleb, attach subpoenas for a case titled “People of the State of California v. David Burke.” In these previously sealed documents, prosecutors from the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office specifically describe D4vd as a “target” of investigation for potential murder charges.
“It is alleged in this case that the target may be involved in the death of 14-year-old victim Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who may have been the victim of foul play,” wrote prosecutors. “Her severely decomposed, dismembered body was found in the front trunk of Target’s Tesla on Sept. 8, 2025.”
The petition also reveals some disturbing details about the state of the body when it was discovered by police officers following reports of a strong odor coming from the impounded car. According to the documents, the car contained two separate black cadaver bags, one with a decomposed head and torso and another with severed arms and legs.
A Texas appeals court is still considering whether to order the Burke family to testify in the D4vd investigation. No charges have been filed in the case so far.
Reps for the family declined to comment on the matter on Wednesday (Feb. 25). D4vd’s lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.
D4vd got his start in music while livestreaming video games in the early 2020s, and his first single “Romantic Homicide” went viral on TikTok in July 2022. The song eventually peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100, and he followed up with the No. 60 single “Here With Me.” D4vd quickly got noticed by the major record labels, and he signed with Darkroom/Interscope Records in September 2022.
After releasing two EPs and opening for SZA’s blockbuster SOS Tour in 2023, D4vd dropped his debut album Withered this past April. The album opened at No. 13 on the Billboard 200, and he embarked on a headlining tour in August.
But D4vd’s career came to an abrupt halt with the discovery of Rivas’ body on Sept. 8. The remaining dates of his Withered World Tour were canceled and Interscope seemed to shelve a deluxe version of the album that had been set for release on Sept. 19.
