D4vd is ‘target’ of grand jury murder probe into dismembered teen found in his Tesla
d4vd is named as the target of a Los Angeles County criminal grand jury investigation into the death of a teenage girl whose dismembered remains were found in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to the singer. The newly unsealed court records lay out grisly details of the discovery and show prosecutors have sought testimony from members of his family.
D4vd named as grand jury target
Court documents describe the singer, legally David Burke, as “Target David Burke” and say he “may be involved in having committed the following criminal offenses against the laws of the State of California, to wit: One count of Murder. ” The filings say prosecutors began presenting evidence to an investigative grand jury in November, and numerous witnesses have been called, including one of Burke’s managers.
How the body was discovered in the Tesla
The dismembered body of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found in a 2023 Tesla Model Y after the vehicle was towed from an upscale neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills. Investigators obtained a search warrant to inspect the car on Sept. 8, after a tow yard worker noticed a rotting smell coming from the vehicle. The subpoenas say detectives found “a black cadaver bag covered with insects and a strong odor of decay” in the front storage compartment and that detectives partially unzipped the bag and observed “a decomposed head and torso. ”
Forensic findings and autopsy restrictions
The court papers recount that, after criminalists and medical examiners processed the scene, “upon removing the cadaver bag from the front storage compartment, it was discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body. ” A second black bag underneath the first contained additional dismembered parts. The medical examiner’s office had previously said the body was found severely decomposed and had probably been dead for an extended period before discovery. The filings note that in November, Los Angeles police obtained a judge’s order preventing the chief medical examiner, Dr. Odey Ukpo, from releasing the autopsy findings.
Subpoenas, family testimony and legal orders
Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman issued subpoenas on Jan. 15 seeking to have Burke’s father, mother and brother testify in Los Angeles; Superior Court Judge Craig Richman approved the subpoenas. The singer’s father, Dawud; mother, Colleen; and brother, Caleb, live in Texas and challenged the subpoenas there. The First Court of Appeals in Texas on Feb. 9 denied petitions from the three Burke family members to ignore the subpoenas. A Texas appeals court footnote cites an underlying case listed as The People of the State of California v. David Burke pending in the 506th District Court of Waller County, Texas, with Judge Gary W. Chaney presiding; the filings note there is no public case with that name and that grand jury proceedings are confidential. A judge in Texas also ordered the family members to appear in California and testify.
Witnesses, an arrested friend and tour cancellations
The documents say numerous witnesses have been summoned and that a friend of Burke’s, Neo Langston, was arrested in Montana after ignoring a subpoena and was later returned to Los Angeles to testify. The filings note Burke was in the middle of a U. S. tour and continued to play several shows after the body was found, but he later canceled the remainder of his concerts and a European tour after his connection to the case became widely reported. Representatives for the singer did not immediately respond to requests for comment; unclear in the provided context whether they have responded since.
Age, missing-person report and remaining questions
Authorities’ court filings say Celeste Rivas Hernandez was 14 when she was killed and that her family had reported her missing from Lake Elsinore in 2024, a community about 70 miles (112km) south-east of Los Angeles. One filing states the body was found in a Tesla registered to Burke on 8 September 2025, a day after she would have turned 15. Although the Los Angeles Police Department has publicly declined to label the death a homicide, a recent court filing and an LAPD detective have described the matter as an investigation into murder. Detectives have spent months investigating the circumstances surrounding the girl’s unclear in the provided context.
The next confirmed steps in the matter are ongoing grand jury proceedings and court-ordered testimony by Burke’s family members in California; the filings show prosecutors have sought witness testimony and that subpoenas remain in effect.
