D4vd explains idea for his music's murderous alter ego in resurfaced clip

What's the connection between D4vd and Celeste Rivas?

An investigation continues into the death of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas. Meanwhile, singer D4vd has canceled the rest of his world tour.

LOS ANGELES - As the investigation continues into the death of 15-year-old Celeste 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.

What they're saying:

Resurfaced video of D4vd's interview with Mahogany back in March has resurfaced and is making the rounds online.

In the video, D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, 20, 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.

"A big part of that manga was an evil version of me named ‘Itami,’ which means ‘pain’ in Japanese, and he wears a blindfold. He’s basically an agent of chaos and kind of my alter ego," said the singer.

"The story of the Manga went like – I was a detective and there was an evil version of myself that would come out at random moments," he said.

"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."

D4vd said he incorporated elements of Itami in songs like "Romantic Homicide."

"I put that all on screen, and me and Itami had a great time just like chopping it up and getting to kind of merge creative ideas on the entire thing," he said about the music video.

D4vd said at one point Itami holds a bloody knife and faces a bloody female character, which he said is the "ghost of the person that he killed" and the "first victim in the manga."

After the resurfaced video began to circulate online, many pointed to the lyrics and visuals of the video seemingly hinted at Rivas' disappearance and murder, although at this time there is no evidence linking D4vd to Rivas' murder.

Some noted the resemblance of the woman in the video to Rivas, and the date of its release coinciding with Rivas' 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."

"It's too much for me to handle / White rose petals, broken hearts, and bloody sandals / Bodies stacked on top of another / Good undercover / Too bad for each other now."

D4vd has not been named as a person of interest or suspect.

Dig deeper:

This comes a day after D4vd was facing online backlash for apparently deleting negative posts of himself on his subreddit amid the ongoing police investigation. Redditors accused him of being the sole moderator of his subreddit, which was locked shortly afterward.

One of D4vd's alleged moderators of his Discord and Twitch channel posted a message saying they did not know about Rivas and were not aware of her true age, or that she was missing.

It's unclear who the admin was and their relationship with D4vd, but according to the statement, the mods "had minimal contact with David or his management."

However, TMZ reports the moderator is not employed by Twitch and the statement was not made on behalf of Twitch.

The backstory:

Rivas' remains were discovered on Sept. 8, a day after her 15th birthday, inside a Tesla registered to D4vd. Employees at Hollywood Tow had called police to report a strong odor emanating from the car.

When police arrived, they discovered the body wrapped in a bag inside the Tesla's trunk.

According to the LAPD, the Tesla was impounded and towed to the yard by the city Department of Transportation because it was parked on a public street for more than 72 hours.

Neighbors said the Tesla had been moved several times over the past three months before it was found on Bluebird Avenue.

On Sept. 17, detectives with the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division served a search warrant at a Hollywood Hills home believed to be occupied by D4vd. It is located not far from where the Tesla was found. A computer and several bags of evidence were recovered from the home.

Amid the ongoing investigation, D4vd canceled the remainder of his "Withered" world tour both in the U.S. and abroad. He was also dropped by Crocs and Hollister just days after he was announced as the face of their "Dream Drop" collaboration.

Additionally, all promotion of his music has been pulled by UMG and Interscope. A deluxe version of his album was meant to come out last week when the news broke.

What we know:

Rivas was 13 when she was reported missing by family on April 5, 2024 in Lake Elsinore.

TMZ' Charles Latibeaudiere told FOX 11 they got a tip last week and reached out to Rivas' mom, who told them that all she knew was that her daughter was dating someone named "David", although she'd never seen the boy. Rivas' mother told the publication her daughter had been missing for more than a year, and she was suspicious of the remains found in the Tesla.

Rivas and D4vd both shared matching "Sshhh…" tattoos on their index fingers.

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, Rivas' cause of death is listed as "deferred." Her recorded date of death is Sept. 8 and place of death as "vehicle."

At this time, police have not named D4vd as a person of interest or suspect in the case and say he is cooperating with the investigation.

The Source: This report is based on a resurfaced video interview with musician D4vd, as well as publicly available information from his social media, music videos, and a statement from an alleged moderator of his online channels. Further details on the investigation and case history are sourced from previous FOX 11 reports, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, TMZ, and the Wall Street Journal.

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