D4vd hires Hollywood's top criminal defense attorney amid Celeste Rivas death investigation
Video from Celeste Rivas' teacher may be 'smoking gun' in case
A teacher is captured on cell phone video telling his students that Celeste Rivas, the 15-year-old girl found dead inside singer David Anthony Burke's Tesla had been his student and that he knew she had run away a couple of times.�
LOS ANGELES - Singer D4vd has hired renowned criminal defense lawyer Blair Berk amid the intensifying probe into the death of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, LA Magazine reports.
Was a crime committed?
What we know:
The hiring of Berk, known for representing celebrities in DUIs and other minor legal issues, comes on the heels of a Los Angeles Police Department statement that criminal liability in the case may not extend beyond the concealment of a body.
While Berk has limited experience with murder cases, she has handled them before. Her past clients, primarily in the entertainment industry, include Harvey Weinstein, Lindsay Lohan, Kanye West, Mel Gibson, Britney Spears, and Reese Witherspoon.
Most recently she represented Monica Sementilli, who in June was sentenced to life in prison for the 2017 murder of her husband, celebrity hairstylist Fabio Sementilli.
RELATED: Monica Sementilli: Wife sentenced for LA hairstylist husband's murder
‘Innocent until proven guilty’
What they're saying:
People took to social media to voice their opinions on Berk's hiring.
"He's already guilty just because he hired this person," one said.
"Oh you could not pay me enough to defend this dude. The evidence against is as big as Mount Everest," another added.
"Hiring a high profile lawyer usually means you're guilty and just hoping for a lighter sentence," someone else added.
"In the court of law he is innocent until proven guilty and hiring legal representation is within his and anyone's right and doesn't make anyone guilty," another said.
Mounting public pressure
Dig deeper:
D4vd continues to grapple with mounting public pressure as the investigation into Rivas Hernandez's death progresses.
The medical examiner has stated Rivas Hernandez's place of death as "vehicle" (where her body was recovered) and her date of death as Sept. 8 (when her body was found).
Rivas Hernandez's body was recovered at Hollywood Tow after employees at the tow yard reported smelling a strong odor coming from the car. When officers arrived, they discovered the young girl's remains wrapped inside a plastic bag in the trunk.
SUGGESTED: Timeline of body found in D4vd's Tesla
According to the LAPD, the Tesla was ticketed just 11 days before Rivas Hernandez was found. The SUV was then impounded and towed after neighbors on Bluebird Avenue in the Hollywood Hills reported the vehicle was parked on the public street for more than 72 hours. Neighbors also said the Tesla was moved several times over the past three months before it landed on Bluebird.
How events unfolded
Timeline:
- April 2024: Rivas Hernandez is reported missing by her family in Lake Elsinore. She is found by police in Hollywood and returned home.
- May 2024: Rivas Hernandez is reported missing again.
- Aug. 27, 2025: The position of the tires on a Tesla registered to singer D4vd, legal name David Anthony Burke, is marked by authorities.
- Sept. 3, 2025: Parking citation issued.
- Sept. 5, 2025: Tesla impounded.
- Sept. 8, 2025: Rivas Hernandez's remains were found in the trunk of the Tesla a day after her 15th birthday.
- Sept. 17, 2025: Detectives with the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division served a search warrant on D4vd's $20,000 a month rental home located not far from where the Tesla was parked. Several bags of evidence were seized from the home.
- Sept. 19, 2025: D4vd cancels his "Withered" world tour.
- Sept. 24, 2025: Rivas Hernandez's body is released back to her family. The same day, movers are seen hauling boxes and other items from the home into a moving truck. The homeowner confirmed with TMZ that D4vd's manager, Josh Marshall, informed him they'd be breaking the lease and move out by the end of the week.
SUGGESTED: D4vd moves out of $20,000 a month Hollywood Hills rental amid investigation
Friends of D4vd believed she was USC student
Dig deeper:
Rivas Hernandez had been reported missing at least three times in 2024, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Her mother reportedly claims that before the teen went missing in April 2024, she was dating someone named David, but she had never met him.
RELATED COVERAGE: D4vd explains idea for his music's murderous alter ego in resurfaced clip
Friends of D4vd told TMZ the two were "romantically involved" but that they believed she was a 19-year-old student at USC. They said they didn't think she was a minor because she attended multiple age-restricted events.
Law enforcement sources previously confirmed to TMZ that Rivas Hernandez had multiple fake IDs which could have given the teen access into such events.
Rivas Hernandez and D4vd shared matching "Sshhhh" tattoos on their right index fingers.
RELATED COVERAGE: Celeste Rivas believed to be 19-year-old USC student, D4vd's friends say: report
In a viral video, one of Rivas Hernandez's former teachers is seen allegedly showing a photo of Rivas Hernandez and another former student of his standing with D4vd in a picture taken near where Rivas Hernandez lived.
"When I taught her, she met this dude on social media. He was a rapper in LA," he said in the video, referring to Rivas and D4vd. "He came and got her. She ran away from home. She was gone for, like, a month. The cops found her in Hollywood, brought her back to our school."
RELATED COVERAGE: Celeste Rivas: Video from former teacher could be 'smoking gun' in case
He said Rivas Hernandez returned home but disappeared again the following month.
D4vd's manager vehemently denies involvement
What they're saying:
Marshall, who owns record label and media company Mogul Vision, went on TikTok to address comments accusing him of his alleged involvement in Rivas Hernandez's death.
Under the handle @JMogul, Marshall denied any involvement and insisted on objective accounts.
SUGGESTED: D4vd's manager breaks silence amid Celeste Rivas death investigation
On a videoby TikTok user "GirlTownNJ," a user commented, "I swear to god I been saying this to my boyfriend!!!! I think Josh did it," and "GIRL TOWN" replied, "I THINK he’s heavily involved,"
Marshall replied, "How dare you say something like this with no facts."
He added in a more detailed response, "This video is false and the person is misinformed. This is the only time I’ll speak on this matter. FOR NOW. This has been a tough time for my family as I am a father of 3 children. I received no emails and I’m no one’s room mate, I live full time at home with my wife and kids. My daughter is 14 and this news is affecting so many lives. I never received any emails. I had zero knowledge of anything and I don’t live in California. Also I work remotely 95% of the time and my job doesn’t require me to have much interaction with any of my clients/David, as there are many others that work with him on a day to day capacity, not me. This news is tragic for so many and for her family. I hope the proper authorities get to the bottom of it soon. Let me remind people a lot of this is speculation and alleged. In the meantime, I am with my family helping them emotionally get through the news of this tragedy. Please report on factual information. – Josh Marshall"
In a follow-up post, he sought to correct the general spread of false narratives.
SUGGESTED: Tesla owned by D4vd ticketed 11 days before body of Celeste Rivas was discovered
"This is for anyone that has spread Misinformation about me that greatly affects myself and my family without any regard for the facts. Also I hope the creator of this video pins my comment and corrects what she said with a new video and anyone else making false comments or following a narrative about me that isn’t true."
No word from D4vd
The other side:
D4vd has not made any appearances nor has he addressed the public amid the ongoing investigation.
The singer canceled the remainder of his world tour and was also dropped by Crocs and Hollister just days after he was announced as the face of their new collaboration. Additionally, all promotion of his music was pulled by UMG and Interscope. A deluxe version of his album was supposed to be released around the same time Rivas Hernandez's body was discovered.
RELATED COVERAGE: LAPD searches Hollywood Hills home close to where D4vd's Tesla was abandoned
Online sleuths were quick to accuse D4vd of moderating his own subreddit then allegedly deleting critical posts of him amid the investigation into Rivas Hernandez's death.
Because D4vd was listed as the sole moderator of his account, users accused him of trying to control the narrative in favor of portraying him in a more positive light.
Hours later the subreddit was locked.
This all came after someone who claimed they moderated D4vd's Discord server and Twitch channel posted a message saying they did not know about Rivas Hernandez. In the message, the mod says they were not aware of her true age or that she was a missing person.
A decomposing body was found in a Tesla reportedly registered to singer D4vd several days after it was abandoned and taken to a Hollywood tow yard.
According to that admin, based on what was shared in D4vd's Twitch streams and from Rivas Hernandez's role in the Discord server, they believed she was around 18 or 19 years old.
RELATED COVERAGE: D4vd's subreddit locked after Redditors accuse him of moderating it
It's unclear who the moderator is, but Twitch told TMZ the mod is not employed by the company and the statement was not made on behalf of Twitch.
D4vd's songs, lyrics scrutinized
Big picture view:
As the investigation continues into the death of Rivas Hernandez, many continue to analyze D4vd's songs, with some people drawing parallels between his lyrics and violent imagery as possible breadcrumbs to the missing teen's murder.
In a viral resurfaced video, D4vd explains the origin of his alter ego in his most popular song, "Romantic Homicide." In the interview, D4vd described himself as an anime fan and at one point was writing his own manga series about a detective with a murderous alter ego solving the very murders he committed. The detective's name was Itami, which means "pain" in Japanese.
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"Kinda like ‘Fight Club’ with Tyler Durden. He would commit the crimes that I would have to solve afterwards as a detective. So as the detective, I’d be solving murders that I’m committing myself," he said.
Some noted the resemblance of the woman in the video to Rivas, and the date of its release coinciding with Rivas Hernandez's birthday.
In his "Rehab" music video, D4vd revisits the alter ego character in an animation. The Itami character cuts off the arm of a woman with brown hair, with the lyrics talking about "bloody sandals."
D4vd has not been named as a person of interest or suspect.
What's next:
A funeral service for Rivas Hernandez is scheduled for Oct. 4. Further details were not released.
The Source: This report is based on initial reporting from LA Magazine, with additional details sourced from previous FOX 11 reports, TMZ and the Los Angeles Times. We also include information from public statements made by the Los Angeles Police Department and D4vd’s manager on TikTok, as well as the official ruling from the medical examiner's office.