Last September, the dismembered, decomposed remains of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez were found in the front trunk of a Tesla sitting in a Los Angeles impound lot. The car was registered to David Anthony Burke, better known as D4vd, a rising singer-songwriter who’d become a Gen Z favorite with his brooding, moody bedroom pop. While links between Burke and Rivas Hernandez quickly began to emerge online, it wasn’t until April that Burke was arrested and formally charged with murdering Rivas Hernandez to cover up his sexual abuse of the girl.
Not long after he was taken into custody, Rolling Stone launched an extensive investigation into Burke. The article, published Monday, contains interviews with an array of former friends and fans, as well as people who worked with Burke on various projects. It also features interviews with a source at Burke’s former label, Darkroom/Interscope, as well as another young woman with whom Burke developed an intense online relationship when she was underage. Both the label source and the young woman are speaking and sharing new details, under the condition of anonymity, for the first time.
The article also examines the disturbing evidence and allegations detailed in court filings and at a recent five-day preliminary hearing. Prosecutors have alleged that Burke maintained an extensive sexual relationship with Rivas Hernandez. A recovered phone and Burke’s iCloud allegedly contained a trove of child sex abuse material, as well as text messages between Rivas Hernandez and Burke about marriage, sex, and an abortion when Rivas Hernandez would have been 13.
