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Cause of Death Revealed for Teen Who Authorites Say Was Killed by D4vd
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By Reuters
Published 1 hour ago on
April 22, 2026

Singer David Anthony Burke, known as D4vd, looks on during his arraignment for the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 20, 2026. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced earlier in the day that musician David Anthony Burke, known as D4vd, was charged today with murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose body was found decomposed and dismembered in his car that had been impounded in September 2025. TED SOQUI/Pool via REUTERS

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The teenager who Los Angeles prosecutors allege was killed by musician D4vd and found inside the trunk of a car in Hollywood died from “multiple penetrating injuries” from objects, a medical examiner’s report released on Wednesday said.

The dismembered body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez was discovered in September in the trunk of a Tesla registered to D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, police and prosecutors have said. Authorities had kept details about the manner of death secret while they launched an investigation.

D4vd pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges on Monday, the same day the judge in the case ordered that the autopsy report be made public.

In the report, Los Angeles medical examiners said they found two “penetrating wounds to the torso” and “dismemberment of the upper and lower extremities.” The report said the torso wounds may have been “sharp force injuries” but did not specify what objects may have caused them. The autopsy was limited by “extensive postmortem changes,” the report added. The time of death was listed as unknown.

Prosecutors say that Celeste, who was 14 at the time, went to D4vd’s Hollywood Hills home in April 2025 and then disappeared.

D4vd gained fame in 2022 after songs he recorded ​on his phone for his Fortnite gaming videos went viral on TikTok, with the hit “Romantic Homicide” helping him sign a deal with Interscope Records. He ​performed at the Coachella music festival in 2025.

“We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez, nor was he the cause of her death,” defense attorney Blair Berk said during D4vd’s arraignment on Monday.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by David Gregorio)

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