CONTENT WARNING: The following article contains details of human remains.
An investigation by a Los Angeles County grand jury is focused on singer D4vd in connection with the death of a 14-year-old girl whose decomposed body was discovered in an abandoned Tesla linked to him that was found in the Hollywood Hills, according to court records.
Legal documents reveal that prosecutors are targeting the 20-year-old alt-pop artist, born in Houston and known as David Burke, through grand jury subpoenas issued on Jan. 15, requesting three of his family members to testify.
While the details were initially sealed in California as part of the secretive grand jury inquiry, they were disclosed following a challenge to the subpoenas in Texas by the singer’s mother, father, and brother.
The documents suggest that the “target may have participated in committing the following criminal offenses under California law, specifically: One count of Murder.”
Vehicle Registered in Singer’s Name, Court Filings Reveal
According to court filings, the Tesla was registered under D4vd’s name at the address of his family members who were served with subpoenas.
Authorities have not officially identified D4vd, pronounced as “David,” as a suspect in the case.
The remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who would have turned 15 a day after her body was found, were discovered on Sept. 8. She was reported missing by her family in 2024 from Lake Elsinore, located approximately 112 kilometers southeast of Los Angeles when she was a 13-year-old seventh-grader.
Although the authorities state her age as 14 at the time of her death in the legal documents.
The subpoena details that police investigators examining the 2023 Tesla Model Y in a tow yard came across a cadaver bag “infested with insects and emitting a strong odor of decay.”
“Upon partially unzipping the bag, a decomposed head and torso were observed,” as per the document.
Officials from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office were dispatched to the scene.
“After removing the cadaver bag from the front storage compartment, it was revealed that the arms and legs had been severed from the body,” the document notes. “A second black bag was found beneath the cadaver bag, containing the dismembered body parts.”
Requests for comments made to representatives of D4vd on Wednesday went unanswered, and previous attempts by the AP to seek comments from them regarding the case were also unresponsive.
The District Attorney’s Office declined to provide any statements.
A judge in Texas ruled that the three family members must comply with the subpoenas and appear in California to give testimony.
Abandoned Vehicle Found
The Tesla had been removed from an affluent neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills where it had been abandoned.
Although the singer was touring the U.S. when the girl’s body was discovered, he continued to perform several shows. However, he later canceled the remaining concerts and an upcoming European tour after his connection to the case became widely known.
Previously, the Medical Examiner’s Office mentioned only that the body was severely decomposed, indicating that Rivas Hernandez had been deceased for a significant period before her discovery.
In November, the Los Angeles police obtained a court order preventing Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odey Ukpo from disclosing the autopsy findings, and the cause of death remains undisclosed.
D4vd rose to prominence among Gen Z fans for his unique mix of indie rock, R&B, and lo-fi pop. His track “Romantic Homicide” went viral on TikTok in 2022, reaching