Singer D4vd pleads not guilty to murder of 14-year-old girl

US singer D4vd has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in the death of a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in his apparently abandoned Tesla.

The charges revealed key details and were among the first concrete public moves made in a grisly and horrific case that had been under a largely secret investigation in the seven months since the body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s Office said the 21-year-old D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged with first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a body.

His lawyer entered not guilty pleas on his behalf to all counts.

The girls’ parents were in court for Burke’s first appearance in the case Monday.

His lawyers said the evidence would show he was innocent.

Authorities alleged the Houston-born alt-pop singer killed Miss Rivas Hernandez to protect a career on the rise after she threatened to report their sexual relationship.

His debut album, Withered, was released just two days after they said she was last known to be alive.

She was reported missing by her family in 2024, when she was 13.

That was her age when, according to allegation in a criminal complaint, the singer engaged in continuous sexual abuse of her for at least a year from September 2023 to September 2024.

California law penalises abuse of a child under 14 especially harshly.

Authorities, who described her on Monday as a “runaway”, said she was 14 when she was killed with a sharp object on or around April 23 2025, and was headed to the singer’s house in the Hollywood Hills.

Prosecutors allege Burke mutilated her body about two weeks later.

The murder charges included special circumstances — lying in wait, committing crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an investigation — that could carry the death penalty.

Prosecutors have not announced whether they will seek it.

The witness he is alleged to have killed is Miss Rivas Hernandez herself, who could have given evidence about the sex crime allegations.

D4vd, pronounced David, gained popularity among Gen Z for his blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop.

He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit Romantic Homicide, which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.

He then signed with Darkroom and Interscope Records and released his debut EP Petals to Thorns and a follow-up, The Lost Petals, in 2023.

The Associated Press confirmed that D4vd was dropped by Interscope last year.

When the body was discovered, the singer continued his North American tour, but when reports of his possible involvement spread widely, he cancelled the final two shows and a European tour that was to follow.

On April 11, about two weeks before the killing, he made his debut appearance at the Coachella music festival, where he talked to the AP.

“I was such an internet kid. The internet is really what I claim as my home,” he said. “My neighbourhood was Instagram and the society was the internet.”