LA grand jury now probing mystery of dead teen stuffed in trunk of D4vd's Tesla, sources say
Published in News & Features
LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles County grand jury is hearing evidence related to the death of a teenage girl whose body was discovered stuffed inside the trunk of singer D4vd’s Tesla earlier this year, two law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times.
The revelation follows the gruesome discovery of the remains of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez in a Hollywood tow yard on Sept. 8. Although the Los Angeles Police Department has publicly declined to characterize the girl’s death as a homicide, a recent court filing by an LAPD detective referred to the case as a murder investigation.
Now, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has begun presenting evidence to what’s known as an investigative grand jury, according to one of the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case with the media.
One of the sources said the grand jury was in session for several days in mid-November, but it was unclear whether prosecutors had completed their presentation of evidence.
Prosecutors may convene an investigative grand jury to subpoena witnesses and compel other evidence, including videos. Such investigative panels may recommend charges, but cannot themselves return an indictment.
In addition to the two law enforcement sources, a court petition provided to the Times on Monday contained a “GJ number,” referencing the existence of a grand jury.
In that document, LAPD Detective Joshua Byers of the Robbery Homicide Division successfully persuaded a judge to bar the L.A. County Medical Examiner from divulging autopsy results and other details related to the girl’s death that would otherwise be public.
It was Byers who characterized the probe into the girl’s death as “an investigation into murder,” according to the document.
Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman, who handles some of the county’s most high-profile murder cases, has called several witnesses before the grand jury, according to one of the law enforcement sources.
Silverman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. The district attorney’s office said in a statement it could not “disclose any information about grand jury proceedings.” An LAPD spokesman referred the Times to a statement issued earlier this week, which did not address the existence of a grand jury.
An attorney for the 20-year-old singer, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, did not respond to a request for comment.
Detectives have spent months investigating the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death, as well as her relationship with Dv4d
The performer’s Tesla had been abandoned on a street in the Hollywood Hills for several weeks before it was removed. A tow yard worker noticed a foul smell coming from the Tesla and alerted the LAPD.
Inside the trunk, police found a black bag containing Celeste’s remains. She weighed 71 pounds and had a “Shhh” tattoo on her finger, according to details released by the medical examiner prior to the court order.
Celeste’s body was discovered the day after her 15th birthday. LAPD Capt. Scot Williams, who leads the Robbery-Homicide Division, said the girl had been “dead for at least several weeks.” On Monday, Williams said the body had not been decapitated or frozen, as some media outlets have reported.
Detectives determined that the Tesla had been left parked along Bluebird Avenue since late July — around the time that D4vd began a national tour. The tour was canceled soon after the death investigation drew worldwide media attention.
D4vd — a young singer whose music straddles the line between R&B and indie rock — has raised eyebrows with some of his musical themes, particularly in the wake of Celeste’s death.
The Queens-born vocalist has appeared in a music video filled with violent imagery: a young woman with an apparent chest wound lies on a bed as the singer hovers over her, blindfolded, his white shirt spattered with blood. In another video, “One More Dance,” D4vd drags a person — who bears the singer’s likeness — to a car, where a couple stuffs the person into the trunk.
“Romantic Homicide” — his most popular track with more than 1 billion plays on Spotify — ends with the lyrics “In the back of my mind / I killed you / And I didn’t even regret it / I can’t believe I said it / But it’s true / I hate you.”
Long before the discovery of her body, Celeste had run away from her Lake Elsinore home. She was in the seventh grade, and her family reported her missing at least three times in 2024, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. During that time, she appeared alongside D4vd online, and law enforcement sources said she resided at a rental home with the singer. The pair met through social media, sources previously told the Times.
Detectives have been working for weeks to trace Celeste’s final movements and determine any connections with D4vd. As part of their investigation, detectives searched the Hollywood Hills home where D4vd lived and removed electronic devices and other items from the residence, which the singer’s manager had leased, according to the owner.
On Tuesday, the LAPD said it has some evidence that D4vd went to Santa Barbara County in the spring. The reason for the trip is under investigation, but it has “drawn no conclusions” about the relevance to the case.
Celeste first disappeared last year on Valentine’s Day. Her mother made emotional pleas on Facebook for help in locating her daughter.
Burke shot to fame posting clips from the video game “Fortnite” to YouTube and other social media, then pivoted to making his own music and scored a hit with“ Romantic Homicide.”
Investigators believe that more than one person was involved the handling of the teen’s body in the months before her remains were found in the Tesla, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the probe.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton, who serves as the department’s chief of detectives said this week that “accountability is coming.”
“Our RHD detectives have been working ... They are going to get justice for Celeste Rivas,” Hamilton said. “No one is off the table, including him (D4vd).”
Hamilton said, contrary to some reports, that investigators haven’t sought the performer’s cooperation.
On Monday, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office revealed it had been barred from disclosing any details about Hernandez’s death by the court order.
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odey Ukpo seemed to question the wisdom of sealing his department’s findings.
“The practice of security holds is virtually unheard of in other counties and has not been proven to improve outcomes in the legal system,” Ukpo said. “We are dedicated to serving our community with full transparency; however, the law precludes us from doing so while the court order remains in this case.”
In his court declaration, Byers wrote that making autopsy and medical findings public “will reveal or tend to reveal the ongoing investigation and the integrity of the investigation as well as the identity of witnesses and/or informants who are cooperating with law enforcement.”
Disclosure, he wrote, “could endanger the lives of witnesses and/or compromise the investigation.”
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Craig Richman agreed and granted the LAPD’s request that the medical examiner’s findings be sealed, pending another court decision.
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