The parents of murdered teenager Celeste Rivas Hernandez were allegedly investigated for child neglect, but were later cleared after law enforcement found no wrongdoing.
According to TMZ, The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation in 2024 after the teenager was reported missing multiple times, including in February and April of that year.
Deputies are said to have contacted singer D4vd – real name David Burke – on February 17, 2024, after finding his number in Celeste’s phone records.
He reportedly told officers he had last spoken to her on February 13 or 14, and claimed he did not know she was a minor or that she had been reported missing.
According to the publication, authorities confirmed to them that the investigation into her family was opened on April 27, 2024, but no charges were brought against her parents.
More than a year later, prosecutors allege that D4vd ordered Celeste an Uber from Lake Elsinore to his Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, where he is accused of killing her.
On September 8, 2025, five months after she was reported missing, the teenager was found in an advanced state of decomposition in the back of the singer’s abandoned Tesla in Hollywood, after authorities had received a call about a “foul smell” coming from the vehicle.
On April, 20, 2026, it was announced that Burke had been charged with first-degree murder, along with additional charges relating to sexual abuse and the alleged concealment of evidence. Burke denies all allegations through his legal team.
Prosecutors claim that D4vd killed Celeste to protect his music career, prosecutors said in a brief. He met Celeste when she was 11 and began a “sexual relationship” with her when she was 13, and he was 18, according to the document.
“Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened, very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out,” the document alleges.
Prosecutors also claim she was fatally stabbed, with autopsy findings pointing to multiple wounds. They further allege her body was dismembered using tools – including a chainsaw.
In a statement shared with Daily Express US, D4vd’s attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter said, “The actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death. We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”
Daily Express Us has contacted the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.the-express.com ’
