What we know about the 14-year-old girl singer d4vd is accused of killing

By Ray Sanchez, Kyung Lah, CNN

(CNN) — The tightknit and family-friendly city of Lake Elsinore in Riverside County is about 70 miles southeast and a world apart from the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood Hills.

Celeste Rivas Hernandez grew up in Lake Elsinore, where she was a regular at the corner store down the street from her home. Neighbors still recall her strolling around with her backpack and long curly black hair atop her 5-foot-2 frame.

Kayleigh Cortez, a neighbor, remembered the first time she saw Celeste three years ago.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, look at that girl. She had big, beautiful curls. That’s a beautiful little girl,’” Cortez recalled.

The next time Cortez saw Celeste was when her picture appeared in the news after her dismembered and decomposed body was discovered in the trunk of a Tesla owned by the alt-pop singer who goes by the name d4vd. The car was parked on a street in the upscale Hollywood Hills neighborhood where the artist, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, had rented a multimillion-dollar home in the hills under the iconic Hollywood Sign.

Her body was found a day after what would have been her 15th birthday.

“Hollywood will always entice kids,” said Cortez, 36, who has a 14-year-old daughter. “Getting to meet a celebrity or doing something out of the norm is cool for any young teen. Lake Elsinore is small. It’s kind of quiet. It’s not like hustle and bustle.”

About a year after Cortez first saw Celeste on the street, family and friends began to report the girl as missing, starting in early 2024. She and d4vd appeared together in a Twitch livestream that January. Between then and March 2024, he was photographed getting out of a black Tesla near the seventh grader’s home.

Celeste was also photographed backstage at one of his Los Angeles shows in June 2024. She was last seen alive going to d4vd’s home in April 2025.

She was 13 at the time, a teenager seen in widely circulated photos with thick, dark curls that highlight her soft smile.

She loved Hello Kitty, and the missing persons poster in Lake Elsinore said she was last seen wearing Hello Kitty slippers.

“I don’t want her remembered as a rebellious kid or a runaway,” said Cortez, who started and tends to a makeshift memorial outside the home where Celeste lived with her family.

“She was a daughter, a sister, a friend. She was a young girl just trying to figure out life, and she doesn’t get to grow up,” Cortez said. “She doesn’t get to get married or have any children because someone took that away from her.”

Young victim’s life cut short

On Monday, following a monthslong investigation, Burke, 21, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. The Los Angeles District Attorney added “special circumstances” to the charge, which makes the sentence eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors say he had a sexual relationship with the young girl and killed her after she threatened to expose it. He allegedly engaged in “continuous sexual abuse” of Celeste starting in September 2023 until September 2024, according to a criminal complaint.

Blair Berk, one of d4vd’s attorneys, wrote in a statement on Monday, “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.”

Celeste died of “multiple penetrating injuries,” according to an autopsy report released Wednesday. She had wounds on her chest and abdomen that “may represent sharp force injuries,” the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office said in the report.

A tattoo reading “Shhh….” was found on the inside of her right index finger, the autopsy report said, similar to the tattoo d4vd has on his finger.

Two fingers were severed and missing from her other hand.

Since Celeste’s dismembered body was discovered in Burke’s Tesla, most news coverage of the case has focused on the budding musical sensation known to his legion of mostly young fans as d4vd.

But Celeste’s brief life has drawn relatively little notice.

Community mourns teen who never returned home

Celeste’s family has largely stayed out of public view since her body was discovered.

In a statement, the family’s attorney said the parents, Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez, asked for privacy as they grieve the loss of their daughter.

“The Rivas Hernandez family is committed to ensuring that Celeste’s voice is heard and her memory is honored throughout this process,” family attorney Patrick Steinfeld said.

“Celeste was a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance,” the family said in a statement.

“We love her very much and she always told us that she loved us,” they added. “We miss her deeply. All we want is Justice for Celeste.”

After the release of the autopsy report on Wednesday, Steinfeld said the findings have caused “profound emotional pain” for Celeste’s loved ones.

“The Rivas Hernandez family is absolutely devastated by the findings contained in the Medical Examiner’s report involving the horrible and gruesome death of their beloved daughter,” the statement says. “They respectfully ask for privacy, understanding, and patience as they process this information.”

For now, friends and neighbors honor Celeste’s memory at the memorial that Cortez started with a lone photo of the girl and some flowers. It now includes fresh flowers, stuffed animals, toys, candles and a huge sign saying, “Justice for Celeste Rivas.” Neighbors stop by to pay their respects, often leaving flowers and other mementos.

“Every holiday I make something for her, like for Valentine’s Day, for Christmas, and I just put it out there. It’s kind of become like a labor of love for me,” Cortez said.

One day, a man who Cortez believes is an uncle of Celeste emerged from the teen’s home and knelt before the memorial, sobbing uncontrollably, she said. Family members always mouth the words “thank you” to Cortez when they drive by.

“This memorial is about Celeste and about her legacy and her impact,” Cortez said.

Her brief life has had an impact on many residents of Lake Elsinore – including Elie Naddaf, who owns a corner store a few doors down from where Celeste lived.

“I feel like I know her forever, for 11 years here,” Naddaf said.

Takis and soda were her favorite afternoon snacks, he recalled. On rainy days, Naddaf would make hot chocolate for Celeste and other kids waiting for the school bus.

“You don’t know the future, where it’s going with this girl,” he lamented. “You don’t know what her dream… All this taken from her, from her family.”

Naddaf said he kept his 17-year-old daughter out of school for about a week after he learned of Celeste’s death. He wanted to “just spend time with her and talk to her” about the many risks teenagers face.

Cortez said she and her daughter talk about Celeste nearly every day.

“Her friends are very protective of Celeste and her name because she’s not here to defend herself,” she said.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Jack Hannah, Jason Kravarik, Elizabeth Wolfe, Andi Babineau, Alaa Elassar, Zoe Sottile, Thomas Bordeaux and Allison Gordon contributed to this report.