D4vd named as grand jury ‘target’ after dismembered teen found in his Tesla, subpoenas and grim details unsealed

The investigation into the death of a teenage girl has reached a new public phase: d4vd, identified legally as David Burke, is described in court filings as the target of a Los Angeles County criminal jury probe into the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Newly unsealed documents outline graphic discoveries in a Tesla registered to Burke and a sequence of legal moves seeking witness testimony from his family.

D4vd named as grand jury target

Court documents describe the musician David Burke as "Target David Burke" and state he "may be involved in having committed" one count of Murder under California law. The filings present the grand jury matter as an investigation into murder. The singer has been the subject of the probe since November, when prosecutors began presenting evidence to an investigative grand jury.

Discovery inside the Tesla and forensic processing

Investigators searching a 2023 Tesla Model Y that had been towed from a Hollywood-area street opened the vehicle’s front storage compartment and found a black cadaver bag covered with insects and emitting a strong odor of decay. Detectives partially unzipped that bag and observed a decomposed head and torso. Criminalists and medical examiners processed the remains at the scene.

Upon removing the cadaver bag, detectives discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body. A second black bag found underneath the first contained additional dismembered body 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 it was located. No cause of death has been revealed at this time. In November, police obtained a court order preventing the chief medical examiner, Dr Odey Ukpo, from releasing autopsy findings.

Timeline: tow, warrant and identification

• A tow-yard worker detected a rotting smell from the vehicle, which led investigators to obtain a search warrant for the Tesla on Sept. 8.
• The car had been towed from an upscale neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills after appearing abandoned; the vehicle was registered in Burke’s name at a family address.
• Authorities state that Celeste Rivas Hernandez was 14 when she was killed; one document notes the body was found in an abandoned Tesla on 8 September 2025, one day after she would have turned 15. Her family had reported her missing from Lake Elsinore in 2024.

Subpoenas, appeals and family testimony

Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman issued subpoenas on Jan. 15 seeking testimony from Burke’s father, mother and brother—identified as Dawud, Colleen and Caleb—who live in Texas. Superior Court Judge Craig Richman approved those subpoenas. The three family members sought to ignore the subpoenas in Texas; the First Court of Appeals in Texas denied those petitions on Feb. 9, requiring them to comply and appear to testify in Los Angeles.

A Texas appeals court footnote explicitly uses Burke’s legal name and references 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 named as presiding. The documents also note there is no public case with that name, and that grand jury proceedings are confidential.

Grand jury witnesses, arrests and tour fallout

Prosecutors have called numerous witnesses before the grand jury, including one of the musician’s managers. A friend of the artist, Neo Langston, was arrested in Montana after ignoring a subpoena and was compelled to return to Los Angeles to testify. The musician, described in filings as a 20-year-old artist, continued to play several U. S. shows after the body was found but later canceled the remainder of his concerts and a planned European tour after his connection to the case became widely reported.

What remains unclear and what to expect next

Lawyers for Burke’s family could not be reached for comment in the materials made public. Los Angeles police have publicly declined to characterize the death as a homicide, even as court filings describe the matter as an investigation into murder; an LAPD detective has referred to it as a murder investigation in a court filing. Detectives have spent months investigating the circumstances surrounding the girl’s [unclear in the provided context].

The unsealed subpoenas and grand jury activity mark a significant public step in the probe. Developments may continue as grand jury proceedings and further court actions move forward; details not present in the available filings remain unclear in the provided context.