Details emerge over death of allegedly murdered teen whose body was found in singer D4vd’s car
Matt Stevens
Los Angeles: Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the teenager whose severely decomposed body was found in the trunk of singer D4vd’s car in 2025, died in a homicide that involved “multiple penetrating injuries,” according to a report released Wednesday by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office.
In the 26-page report, the office said the body had two “penetrating wounds to the torso” (one puncturing the liver in the right abdomen, the other in the left chest) and “comminutement of the upper and lower extremities.” The report stated that the injuries were caused by “objects.”
Examiners also said they found multiple “skin defects” and that when they examined the body, it had undergone “serious post-mortem changes.” The body was eventually identified through “dental radiography comparison,” the report said.
The report stated the date and location of the injury as “unknown.” The cause and manner of death were determined on Dec. 9, 2025, the office said.
The release of the report comes more than seven months after Hernandez’s remains were found in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to D4vd, whose real name is David Burke.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles on Monday charged Burke, 21, with killing Hernandez, as well as repeated sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful destruction of human remains. Prosecutors allege Burke killed her with a “sharp instrument.”
Burke has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have said he did not cause Hernandez’s death. The attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
During the months-long investigation into Hernandez’s death, police and the medical examiner’s office disagreed over whether to release the medical examiner’s report. At the request of the police and over the objections of the chief medical examiner, the judge imposed a security measure on the case preventing the report from being published.
Police said this arrest was necessary to ensure detectives learned critical information about Hernandez’s death before the media and public did. Police did not say whether the death was being treated as a homicide because the records were sealed.
At Burke’s hearing on Monday, the judge decided to release the coroner’s report.
“I am grateful that, after several months, this information can now be made available not only to the public but also to the suffering family,” chief medical examiner Dr Odey Ukpo said in a statement. “It’s incomprehensible that they had to wait this long to find out what happened to their daughter.”
Some elements of the report have been redacted, but the release included an investigator’s observation that the dismembered body was found in a “large, black, zippered body bag with handles.”
At Monday’s hearing, Burke’s attorneys pressed for a preliminary hearing to be held soon and called on prosecutors to turn over documents, including the medical examiner’s report. This led the judge to order the report to be published.
The first status hearing in the case will be held on Thursday.
The first-degree murder charge against Burke includes special circumstances such as lying in wait, committing the crime for financial gain and killing an investigation witness. These factors mean Burke faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said it has not decided whether it will pursue the death penalty.
In the felony complaint, prosecutors alleged that Burke engaged in three or more acts of “serious sexual conduct” with Hernandez between Sept. 7, 2023, and Sept. 7, 2024. Burke was 13 years old at the time.
According to district attorney Nathan J Hochman, on April 23, 2025, when Hernandez was 14, he went to his home in the Hollywood Hills at Burke’s invitation and “was never heard from again.” The dismemberment of human remains occurred on May 5, 2025, the complaint stated.
According to a statement Hochman released Monday after Burke allegedly sexually assaulted Hernandez, Burke “threatened to expose his criminal behavior and destroy his music career.” So Burke “allegedly killed him.”
According to authorities, the car containing the remains was left on a public street for weeks before being towed to an impounded parking lot in Los Angeles.
Hernandez’s body was found on September 8, 2025, one day after his 15th birthday.
Investigators examined his body on Sept. 10, according to the medical examiner’s report. However, the cause of death could not be determined for another three months.
A spokesman for the district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Patrick Steinfeld, an attorney for Hernandez’s family, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the forensic report’s findings.
Repeated efforts to reach Hernandez’s family members were unsuccessful, but in a statement released this week through Steinfeld, his parents said they “miss him terribly.”
“All we want is justice for Celeste,” they added.
This article was first published on: New York Times.
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